Caught In the Flames
by MidnightRain85
Summary: This story takes place in the trio’s sixth year. Ron’s father took him to the Ministry of Magic to show him something important. But what is it? And what is it for? Please read and review!
1. Back at Hogwarts

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1: Back at Hogwarts

_Beep, beep. Beep, beep._ Hermione reached over and turned off her alarm then through her blanket over her face. There was a knock on the door and then her mom entered, "Rise and shine." She said enthusiastically making her way to the window to open the curtains.

Hermione opened her eyes. "Oh man, it's bright in here." She complained.

"Well good morning to you too," said her mother, "now come on, get up, you don't want to be late do you?"

Hermione smiled and shook her head. She did not wonna be late, no way, not today. Today she was going to Ron's house to stay there for the last two weeks of vacation before they start their sixth year at Hogwarts. Harry was going too. They had planned on going on a picnic at 10:00 am the day she and Harry arrived so that would mean she only had an hour and a half to get ready. She hopped out of bed.

"I'll be in the kitchen making pancakes, all right." her mom informed her then left.

_Mmm pancakes_, Hermione thought as she walked to the bathroom, _I love pancakes._

Fifteen minutes later she was greeted by the delicious smell of pancakes as she entered the kitchen and sat at the table. While pouring a lavish amount of syrup on her stack of pancakes she thought about how much she wanted to see Ron. She had missed him so much, more than she had missed Ginny and Harry. Just then her dad came into the kitchen and greeted her and Mrs. Granger.

"Goo—" Hermione tried to reply but couldn't. She had to shift the food in her mouth around a little. "Good morning." She managed, spitting only a diminutive quantity of pancake across the table. _Oops!_ She thought, embarrassedly.

After she was finished eating, Hermione went to survey herself in the mirror one last time. "Ok, I guess I'm ready." She announced as she got to the living room.

Her mom was getting the fireplace ready as she was going to travel by Floo powder. "All set," her mom stated. "Bye sweetie," she hugged and kissed Hermione, "We're going to miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you guys too." She said as her dad gave her a kiss and a hug. "Bye pumpkin. Don't forget to write to us." Mr. Granger said as he walked her to the chimney.

"I won't. Bye." And she stepped into the green flames. "The Burrow" she shouted, and immediately started spinning wildly.

Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth to prevent herself from parting with her breakfast. Soon she found herself on the floor of a familiar place. She was in the Burrow. Hermione stood up and began dusting herself off when she heard the voice that she had been dieing to hear all summer.

"You're early." Ron said but he didn't look disappointed about that at all.

"Hi Ron, how are you?" Hermione asked as he came towards her.

"I'm fine now that you're here." Ron answered, and to Hermione's delight he hugged her.

They went and sat in the living room to wait for Harry. Soon Ginny joined them and they all began chatting about what they did on their summer vacation. Harry arrived and greeted everyone then Hermione and he went to put their trunks and stuff upstairs. Mrs. Weasley had already fixed them a picnic basket. The trio and Ginny said goodbye to Mrs. Weasley, took the picnic basket and a blanket then went outside.

During the picnic Harry asked Ginny if she wanted to go for a walk and she agreed so they went. Now Hermione had Ron all to herself.

"So…" she didn't know to say. Maybe it was because she was nervous. "Um, why do you think Harry wanted to take Ginny for a walk?"

"Oh, well I suppose he wanted to ask her something in private." Ron said, blushing a little.

Hermione eyed him suspiciously. "Do you know something I don't know?"

"Yes." Ron said smiling.

"Will you tell me?"

"Actually there's something I want to ask you."

"Ok, ask away." Hermione prompted and watched as Ron's blush darkened.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Ron asked nervously.

"Yes!" Hermione through her arms around Ron's neck. Ron hugged her back and looked relieved that she said yes.

Later that night Hermione and Ginny where in Ginny's room getting ready for bed when Ron came in. "Knock, knock," He said, "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Said Hermione, who had just finished putting on her nightdress.

"Ron," said Ginny with mock annoyance, "You're supposed to knock on the door then wait for someone to say 'come in' not open the door then just say 'knock, knock'."

Ron gave her a look that said oh-very-funny. Ginny said she was going to the bathroom then left.

"So … you know that Harry and Ginny hooked up, huh?" Hermione asked Ron.

"Yup" Ron said. "Well I just came to say goodnight, so, goodnight."

"Goodnight Ron." Hermione kissed him. She got into bed and he went back to his room. Soon Ginny came back and turned off the lights. Hermione's last thought before she fell asleep was _this is going to be the best two weeks ever...._

The summer vacation was over and the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione were on their way to King's Cross Station. When they got there they said bye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley then went through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 and ended up on platform 9 and ¾ where the magnificent Hogwarts Express stood stationary. The trio and Ginny found an empty compartment and sat together in it. They waved to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley as the train pulled out of the platform until they couldn't see them any more.

About an hour into the trip, as the Hogwarts Express sped across the countryside, Cho came into their compartment to greet Harry. Ginny didn't seem to look too happy about this. Perhaps the reason was because Cho was being very flirt-ish. Ginny was practically fuming by the time she left.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Harry asked Ginny. He put his hand on her shoulder but she jerked it away then crossed her arms and huffed.

"Ginny?" Harry tried to put his hand on her shoulder again.

"Don't touch me." Ginny spat.

Harry looked taken aback, "What the hell did I do?" He asked incredulously. _Boys can be so insufferable_, Hermione thought.

"What do you mean 'what did I do?'" Ginny retorted making a deep, dorky voice trying to imitate Harry's. "I'll tell you what you did. Cho with her mini skirt was all over you and you didn't even try to stop her." _And now the great Harry Potter understands_, Hermione thought sarcastically, _and all it took was Ginny spelling it out for him. _

"I'm really sorry Gin," Harry said, "I didn't realize … forgive me?"

"Well ok but only if you promise that the next time Cho flirts with you you'll tell her that you and I are going out."

"Deal." said Harry and Ginny then turned to Ron.

"Ron, can you tell us about your trip to the Ministry of Magic now?" Ginny asked.

"You went to the Ministry of Magic?" Hermione asked turning to face Ron.

"Yeah, about a month before you and Harry came to stay." Ron replied.

"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Harry asked.

"Well he couldn't tell you guys while we were at The Burrow because mum told him not to." Ginny answered for Ron.

"That's right; Mum would've kicked my behind if she had heard us talking about it." Ron said seriously.

"But why?" Harry said, "What did you do at the Ministry of Magic?"

"I actually got to go to the Department of Mysteries. Dad showed me a new weapon that's being built. It's not finished yet but it'll be done in a few months." Ron said.

"Why did your dad show you the weapon?" Hermione enquired, "And what is it for?"

"I asked him why he took me to see it but he said he'd tell me when the weapon was done. It's a weapon to destroy You-Know-Who."

"What!" said Harry shocked. "But I thought I had to—well, you know."

"Not any more." Ginny told him.

Harry lowered his gaze and looked contemplative as if he were taking in this new information.

"But you can't tell anyone that you know about the weapon." Ron told them, looking around at all of them.

"Of course we won't." Hermione reassured him.

"Yeah," Ginny agreed. "Don't worry."

"Harry?" Ron asked Harry who was still looking at the floor.

Harry raised his gaze to look at Ron and said, "Don't worry mate my lips are sealed."

When the Hogwarts Express drops then off at Hogsmeade Station, the trio and Ginny gather their things then look for an empty horseless carriage. At the last minute Luna comes in saying something about everywhere else being full. She keeps them entertained on the way to the castle with a story about how she spent her summer vacation.

"And then my dad and I went hiking and when we reached the top of the mountain a huge eagle appeared out of nowhere, grabbed me by my shoulders then soared away taking me with her and dropping me in a nest high in a tall tree with all of her baby eagles so I ran to the edge of the nest and looked down only to find that I was about a hundred feet above the ground which caused me to panic and scream and run around the nest with my hands flailing above my head." Luna turned to Hermione, who was trying desperately not to burst into hysterics while wondering how Luna could talk so long without stopping to take a breath, and told her in a serious voice, "I thought I was done for it. But then," she turned back to the rest of them and continued her story animatedly. "My dad Apparated into the nest and levitated me to the ground then Disapparated out of the nest and we ran as far away from that tree as possible."

Hermione was more than glad when they finally arrived at the castle and by the looks on Harry, Ron and Ginny's faces she could tell that they were too. They all got out of the carriage and made their way to the castle. Up the stone steps and through the oak front doors they went only to be pestered by Peeves. He started giving all the boys wedgies.

"Peeves stop that right now." Ron tried to stop him, but to no avail.

"NO!" shouted Peeves and then gave a second year boy a wedgy.

"Ow!" said the second year in a squeaky voice clutching his butt and running into the Great Hall.

"What is going on out here?" Prof. McGonagall came into the Entrance Hall looking daggers at the boys who were grasping their behinds and howling in pain.

"It's Peeves Prof. McGonagall." Said Hermione, pointing at Peeves.

"Peeves I'm warning you," said McGonagall in a stern voice, "leave these boys alone or I'll call Prof. Dumbledore."

"Fine!" yelled Peeves and he gave one last quick wedgy (to Ron) before taking off. This of course caused all the Slytherins to laugh themselves silly and Ron's temper to rise.

Every one went into the Great Hall. The sorting of the first years took place then the feast. Once they were all fed and watered Dumbledore said his usual stuff then dismissed them. All the Gryffindors headed toward the North tower.

The head boy gave the password "frog spawn" and the Fat Lady let them in. The trio and Ginny stayed in the common room for a while and chatted until Lavender and Parvati came in and told Harry that Cho wanted to talk to him.

"Ok," said Harry and he got up to leave. "I'll be right back guys."

The common room slowly started to empty until Hermione, Ron and Ginny were the only ones left. "Well I guess we should go to bed now" said Hermione.

"Yeah I'm exhausted." Ron said.

Hermione and Ron got off the couch and started walking to the spiral stair cases that lead to the dormitories until they realized that Ginny wasn't following.

"Gin, aren't you coming?" Ron asked. Ginny thought about it for a while. She clearly looked as if she wanted to wait for Harry. But then she said "I guess." And got up from the couch.

They all went to their dorms after saying goodnight to each other.

A/N: Well there you have it, my first try at writing a fic. Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it and please review I'd really appreciate it.


	2. A Jolt of Pain

Disclaimer: I still own nothing.

Chapter 2: A Jolt of Pain

The next morning the trio and Ginny met in the common room, greeted each other then went to breakfast. About halfway into their breakfast Ginny asked Harry, "So what did Cho want last night?"

"Oh, she wanted to ask me if I wanted to go to the first Hogsmeade trip with her but I told her I would be going with you as you were my girlfriend. And I have to say she looked more than a little disappointed.

Just then Cho passed by looking daggers at Ginny. She was closely followed by Malfoy who sneered at them. Cho and Malfoy walked out of the Great Hall and Hermione wondered if they were leaving together. _What would they be doing together? _Hermione wondered. She decided she didn't care what they did and shrugged it off.

The first weeks of classes went by so fast, they got tons of homework. The first trip to Hogsmeade Village was going to be this coming Saturday. Ron and Hermione were going together as were Harry and Ginny. As Saturday drew nearer Cho grew more and more unbearable. She would always start laughing and pointing whenever Ginny passed her. Her and her friends never passed up a chance to make fun of Ginny. Of course Cho was careful not to do this whenever Harry was around. Cho would sometimes come up to Harry when Ginny was with him and just pretend like Ginny wasn't even there.

Saturday had arrived and Hermione and Ginny were getting ready to go to Hogsmeade. They met Harry and Ron downstairs in the common room. When Filch had called all of their names and they were outside they saw Cho and Malfoy walking and talking together. Hermione was reminded of the first day of school when she saw them leave the Great Hall together. She didn't know why but seeing them together gave her a funny feeling.

At Hogsmeade they split up. Ron and Hermione went one way and Harry and Ginny another.

"Where would you like to go?" Ron asked.

"How about a coffee shop?" Hermione suggested.

"Ok." Ron agreed.

Once they were at the coffee shop, sipping their warm mugs of coffee, they began chatting about what they were planning on doing for the winter vacation.

"Well I'm going to The Burrow. Bill and Charlie are going to be there so I'm really looking forward to seeing them." Ron said.

"That's good. What about Percy, is he going to be there too?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, but I only mentioned Bill and Charlie because they live abroad so I don't see much of them but I see Percy a lot." Said Ron, "So, what are you planning on doing?"

"My parents are going to rent a cabin by a lake. The lake will probably be frozen by then which is really good because I like to ice skate so, you know, that'll be fun." Hermione answered.

After finishing their coffee they went to Honeydukes and bought some candy. When they left they spotted Ginny sitting alone on a bench. Ron and Hermione went to her and asked what happened.

"That bitch Cho! She just came to us and told Harry that she wanted to tell him something then practically pulled him away. And he didn't even try to stop her! He just threw a quick 'I'll be right back' over his shoulder and kept going." Ginny said.

"Did you see where they went?" Hermione asked Ginny.

"I think they headed toward the Hog's head." Ginny replied.

"I'm going to go try to find them." Hermione said then turned to leave.

"We'll come too." Ron called.

"No you guys stay here. I need to knock some sense into Harry. I won't be long" Said Hermione.

Hermione was on her way to the Hog's Head when a lady stood in her way.

Hermione said, "Excuse me." then tried to walk around her but the lady blocked her and said, "Won't you please come in?" and gestured her hand toward the building right next to them. Hermione surveyed the building. _I don't believe this, _she thought.

"Look lady I don't believe in fortune telling so, will you please get out of my way? If you don't mind I really need to do something." Hermione tried to walk around the fortune-teller again but she kept blocking her way. Hermione tried to go from the left then from the right then the left then the right but it was no use the fortune-teller was too fast for her.

"Urgh!" Hermione was so frustrated.

"It was written in the stars that you would cross this path." Said the fortune-teller matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, yeah…" Hermione muttered. "Fine I'll go inside for one minute—but that's it. Then you have to get out of my way."

"As you wish, my dear." And they both went inside.

The fortune-teller sat at a round table with a crystal ball on it. The crystal ball started to get foggy when she looked into it. "Ah … yes … uh huh … ok.…" The fortune-teller looked up at Hermione. "I see here that you have potential … that you are worthy."

Hermione was expecting her to say that something tragic was going to happen to her, which was what Prof. Trelawney would've done. But this actually intrigued Hermione and she sat down at the table and asked, "Worthy of what?"

"Give me your palm." Said the fortune-teller.

Hermione extended her arm across the table so the fortune-teller could reach her hand while asking, "What do I have potential for?"

The fortune-teller didn't answer. She started reading Hermione's palm then said, "Yes … the crystal ball is indeed right." She looked at Hermione, "You need to know that a time will come when the ones you used to trust can not be trusted and the ones that could not be trusted will be the ones you can trust."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Hermione asked.

The fortune-teller ignored her question again and continued reading her palm. "Sometimes we see things that may appear as if they are as plain as day but if you look hard enough you might find that they're not what they appear to be at all."

"But what does that mean? I don't understand any of this." Hermione was so perplexed.

The fortune-teller released Hermione's palm and said, "I can not tell you, my dear, but please remember what I said."

Hermione looked at her palm and tried to see what the fortune-teller just saw. But all she saw was her palm, the same palm she saw everyday of her life.

"Great." Said Hermione irritably, "you just wasted my time. I should have known. Fortune telling is such rubbish." Hermione got up to leave.

"Wait!" said the fortune-teller, "You have been chosen. You must take it." And she put her hand out as if she wanted to shake Hermione's hand.

Hermione was confused about what the fortune-teller had just said but thought, _the faster I shake hands the faster I can leave. _So she raised her hand to shake the fortune-teller's hand.

As Hermione's hand touched the fortune-teller's hand a tiny jolt of pain shot up from her palm, through her arm but faded away before it reached her shoulder. _Whoa! _Hermione thought.

She was about to ask the fortune-teller 'what happened?' when all of a sudden a toad came hopping by her feet then Neville dived on the floor to catch it.

Hermione looked back at the fortune-teller. "Remember what I said dear." She said and then went into the back room leaving Hermione bewildered.

"Were you having your fortune told?" Neville asked Hermione.

"Um … yeah I guess." Hermione was still in a daze. She tried to snap out of it. "Well I gotta go." She told Neville.

"Can I come?" Neville asked hopefully.

"Uh …" _damn! _She couldn't say no. "Well, ok but I'm going to the Hog's Head to look for Harry."

"Ok." Said Neville.

They went into the Hog's Head but Harry wasn't in there. Neville went and asked the bar tender if Harry Potter had been in here today (after all, who didn't know the famous Potter) but the bar tender just said, "What's that you say? A Firewhisky? Ok." And he put a bottle of Firewhisky on the bar in front of Neville.

Neville looked a little freaked out and went to Hermione and said "Maybe we should leave."

Hermione agreed right away because she was starting to feel a bit perturbed herself. She could tell that all the masked people were staring at her.

Hermione and Neville went back to where Ron and Ginny were sitting and told them that they couldn't find Harry.

"Maybe we should look in other places." Ginny said.

They all looked everywhere in all the stores and shops until it was time to go back to the castle.

"Where could he be?" Ginny said heatedly.

"I wish I knew." Said Hermione.

"I guess we'll just have to meet him at the castle, "Ron said looking at his watch. "It's time to leave."

Neville tagged along with them all the way back to the castle so Hermione couldn't tell Ron and Ginny about what happened with the fortune-teller. But she kept thinking about all those things she had said while Ron, Ginny and Neville talked until Ron asked her, "Why are you so quiet?"

"No reason." Said Hermione then joined in on their conversation.

"Ron, can I talk to you?" Hermione asked when they were back in the common room after dinner.

"Yeah, of course," Ron replied then waited for her to start speaking.

"Um, I kind of don't want anyone else to hear…" Hermione said coyly.

"Ok, wonna go outside? Ron asked quietly.

"Sure." Hermione said, her voice as equally audible as Ron's.

They walked along the Hogwarts grounds as Hermione told Ron all about the fortune-teller and the jolt of pain she felt when she shook her hand.

"Try not to worry about what that crackpot said. You know fortune-tellers are nutters." Ron said.

"Yeah … but … she wasn't like Trelawney … she seemed pretty sane to me…" Hermione was talking slowly while trying to recall everything from her encounter with that Seer. "She also said something … right before we shook hands … it was important I think … but I can't remember what it was…"

"I'm sure it'll come to you." Ron reassured her.

"You're right, I shouldn't stress myself out. But I don't understand why I felt that jolt shoot up my arm when I shook her hand."

Ron put his arm around Hermione's shoulders and said, "Don't fret over that, I'm sure you're fine. But if you want to go to the hospital wing just to make sure…"

"No that's ok." Hermione said then changed the topic of conversation to Harry.

"Where do you suppose Harry is?" She asked Ron.

"I don't know." He answered. "But I feel sorry for the bloke. When he finally decides to show up he'll have to endure Gin's wrath. Was she still angry the last time you saw her?"

"She was livid not to mention quite jealous too because she's sure that Harry is with Cho." Hermione said.

Ron and Hermione then sat under a tree and started talking about how happy they were together.

"Well I'm just glad you finally worked up the courage to ask me to be your girlfriend." Hermione smiled at Ron.

"And I'm glad you said yes." Ron smiled back at her then pulled her close to him and brushed his lips against hers. He looked at her for a few seconds then said with a gentle voice, "I love you."

"I love you too Ron. So, so much." Hermione put her arms around Ron's neck and kissed him.

They continued kissing for awhile until they heard a sound come from the bushes.

"Who's there?" Ron called but no one replied. "I know someone's there. Show yourself."

They waited awhile listening for sounds but none came.

"I guess it was nothing." Hermione said. "Maybe we should go back to the castle," she looked at Ron's watch. "It's past midnight."

Ginny was the only one in the common room when they got there. She was pacing in front of the fire place.

"Harry's still not back" Ginny told them. "Where could he be? You know what … Maybe something happened to him. Maybe he's hurt! Ginny began to get frantic. "We have to go look for him right now! We have to tell Dumbledore!

"Whoa, whoa—Ginny please calm down." Said Ron pulling Ginny to sit on a couch. He kneeled on the floor in front of her, "I'm sure Harry is fine, Gin. We should probably go to bed and if he's not back by the morning then we'll tell Dumbledore, ok?"

"I guess you're right," Ginny said. "I shouldn't be so worried, Harry can take care of himself."

"Yeah that's right." Ron agreed. "Come on let's go to bed now." He stood up.

Ginny got of the couch and said, "I just need to gather my books and things." She went and started packing all her stuff in her backpack. "You guys don't have to wait for me if you're tired."

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

"Uh huh." Was Ginny's reply.

Ron went and gave Ginny a hug, "Goodnight." He told her. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes Mr. overprotective brother, I'm fine, I promise." She reassured him.

"All right, all right." Said Ron smiling.

Now it was Hermione's turn to say goodnight. She went to give Ginny a hug. As Hermione put her hands on Ginny's back she felt that jolt again. Only this time it went through both her palms, up her arms, past her shoulders and to her head. When it reached her head she saw something. It looked like a guy slapping a girl. It looked blurry and kind of like it was a little bit in slow motion. But she could still make out their faces nonetheless.

It was Harry slapping Ginny. Was this her imagination caused by the pain or was it a vision? Something that had happened or maybe was going to happen? The pain stayed the whole time the vision was playing through her head. When it was over she opened her eyes and looked at Ron who was looking at her with concern in his eyes.

"What just happened to you?" He said.

"I—I don't know." Hermione said quietly.

Ron told her that as soon as she put her arms around Ginny she gasped and went rigid.

"Really?" Said Hermione. She didn't know if she should tell them what she saw. _They might think I'm crazy. Maybe I'll just keep it to myself for a while, _she thought, _I don't even know what it means._

Just then the portrait swung open and in came a very disheveled Harry.

"We'll give you two some privacy." Hermione said. "Come on, Ron."

As they were walking to the spiral stair cases that lead to the dorms, Ron murmured, "Night." And gave Hermione a quick peck.

"See you tomorrow." Hermione said, and then they went their separate ways.

As Hermione was climbing the spiral stairs to the girl's dorms she could hear Ginny and Harry arguing. _Their bickering is going to wake everyone up, _Hermione thought, _I should go back down stairs … quiet them down._

Hermione turned around and headed back down the stairs. As she approached the door she could hear Harry and Ginny's voices getting louder. What she saw when she opened the door gave her a strange feeling of deja vu. She saw Harry slap Ginny. It looked exactly like how it was in her vision. Now she knew the visions showed the future.

Ginny put her hand on her now red cheek and glared at Harry, tears in her eyes. Harry met her gaze with expressionless eyes.

Hermione walked over to them and as soon as Ginny noticed her she ran to her dormitory. But Harry just stayed standing in the same spot without saying a word.

Hermione went to Harry and asked, "How could you do that to Ginny!?" He didn't answer. "Hello! I'm talking to you, look at me. Look at me damn it!" Hermione clapped her hands in front of Harry's face which finally got his attention. "What is going on with you?" She asked.

Harry surveyed her for a while then just said flatly, "I'm going to bed." And left.

Hermione watched him go up the stairs to the boy's dorms then she went up the ones that lead to the girl's.

When she reached her dorm she got into her four poster bed with her mind reeling. She couldn't wait for the next trip to Hogsmeade Village.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. Please review, I want to know what you think. To the people who reviewed the first chapter, thank you so much, you guys are great.


	3. Tears of Rage

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Never have, never will.

Chapter 3: Tears of Rage

A few days after the Hogsmeade trip found Hermione studying in the library. Harry had apologized to Ginny about a thousand times and she had forgiven him. Everyone thought it was best to just keep it from Ron.

Harry kept saying that all he could remember was going into the Hog's Head with Cho and taking a sip from his Butterbeer. Hermione and Ginny had approached Cho and asked her what she had done to Harry. Cho claimed that she and Harry just had a Butterbeer then split up. And Cho's friends said that she was telling the true. They said that Cho spend the rest of the Hogsmeade trip with them. But neither Hermione nor Ginny believed any of them.

When lunch time came Hermione packed her books and left the library. She met Ron along the way to the Great Hall.

When they were sitting at the table, filling their plates with food, Hermione asked, "What are you doing later after classes?"

"We have Quidditch practice tonight." Ron replied. "Which reminds me, I haven't seen Harry since our last class. I wonder where he is."

"I don't know," said Hermione. "I was in the library."

By the time they finished lunch it was time for their next class, Care of Magical Creatures.

As they headed outside, Ron said, "I can't believe Ginny and Harry missed lunch. I wonder where they are."

"I have no idea but I hope Harry doesn't miss this class." Hermione said as they were walking down the stone steps.

About halfway to Hagrid's hut Ron and Hermione heard Harry shouting, "Hey, wait up!"

They turned around and saw Harry running towards them.

"Where have you been mate?" Ron asked him.

"I was in the common room with Ginny, she's not feeling well."

"What's wrong with her?" Ron got a little worried. "Is she ok?"

"Oh yeah, she's fine. She's just tired I think. I wanted to stay with her but she made me leave." Harry said.

"Well I'm glad she did," Said Hermione, "You can't miss classes, they're important."

"She actually wanted me to leave when it was lunch time but I kept saying that I wasn't hungry, that I wanted to stay with her. But she kept insisting. In the end she started getting pretty annoyed until I finally agreed to leave." Said Harry.

After the Care of Magical Creatures class they went to Herbology then back to the castle for dinner.

After dinner Ron and Harry went to get ready for Quidditch practice and Hermione stayed in the common room to do some homework. She was opening her books when Ginny came into the common room.

"Hey Ginny, how are you feeling?" Hermione asked.

Ginny didn't answer. She was walking toward the portrait hole.

"Ginny?" Hermione tried again, "Ginny! Ginny! Wait, where are you going?"

"Outside." Ginny said, then went through the portrait hole.

_I guess she's going to Quidditch practice_, Hermione thought.

Harry and Ron then came into the common room and said bye to Hermione.

"Bye." She told them. "Um, I think Ginny is going to attend the Quidditch practice."

"Really?" said Harry.

"Yeah, she went outside."

"Ok. That's great." Said Harry then he and Ron left.

A few hours later Hermione had finished her homework and was packing her books in her bag. Suddenly the portrait swung open and Harry, Ron and Ginny came in.

"How was practice?" Hermione asked.

"Well the beaters got out of control for a while. But apart from that, I'd say it went pretty well." Said Ginny.

"What did the beaters do?" Hermione inquired.

"Well first of all you need to know that the Slytherins were in the stands watching us." Said Harry. "One of the beaters, Mark, accidentally hit a bludger at the other beater, Jack, causing him to fall off his broom."

"And as you can probably guess, all the Slytherins started laughing their heads off." Ron said.

Then Ginny said, "And I guess it must've been embarrassment that caused Jack to mount his broom only to send a bludger at Mark. But Mark was ready for it and he hit it back at Jack. Jack, looking angry, then hit it back at Mark with more force. When it approached Mark he hit it with a great deal of force too. Then Jack hit it with even more force and it went on and on and on.…"

"You should have seen," Said Harry. "It was like they were playing some weird form of tennis."

Hermione and Ron then went outside. They sat down facing the lake and saw one of the giant squid's tentacles come out of the water for a split second.

Hermione then noticed Cho and Pancy talking together with smug looks on their faces. They didn't seem to notice Ron and Hermione. Their attention was fully devoted to a small bag that Cho was holding. Hermione wondered what was in that suspicious looking bag.

Hermione turned to Ron. "You know what; I think we should've told Dumbldore about Harry's weird behavior on the day of the Hogsmeade trip."

"Are you still worried about that?" Ron said. "That's old news. It's in the past. You shouldn't trouble yourself with that anymore." He put his arm around Hermione's shoulders. "Ok?" He said in a soft voice.

"Yeah ok." Hermione smiled slightly then rested her head on Ron's shoulder. "What would I do without you?"

Ron kissed her forehead then said, "Without me you'd probably be a nervous wreck."

Hermione chuckled, "You're probably right." She said.

They stayed quiet for a while. Hermione wondered if Ron thought so lightly about Harry's behavior because he actually didn't really see his behavior. He had gone to his dorm right away, as had Hermione, but then Hermione had gone back. And Ron still doesn't know that Harry slapped Ginny.

October went by pretty fast. They were kept busy with a whole lot of homework. Everyone was looking forward to the Halloween feast.

As November came it brought chilly weather. They now needed to wear jackets outside. The first Quidditch match had finally arrived. It was now Saturday and Gryffindor would be playing Slytherin. The stands were filled with screaming and cheering students.

Only five minutes into the game Slytherin made a foul. And after half an hour they sent a bludger at Ginny when she didn't even have the quaffle. But luckily it wasn't long before Harry caught the snitch. All the Gryffindors erupted in cheers. Gryffindor had prevailed over Slytherin. Which meant … party time!

All of the Gryffindors had a great time partying way past midnight.

The next morning Hermione went down stairs and met the other three in the common room. It was Sunday so they didn't have classes. They ate breakfast while discussing what they were going to do today. They all agreed on going to visit Hagrid.

He made them tea while they were there and congratulated them on their victory over Slytherin. When they were walking back to the castle Ron said,

"Hey, you guys wonna sit by the lake for a while."

Harry and Ginny said, "Sure." But Hermione felt like going to the bathroom so she said, "I just have to go to the bathroom real quick. I'll be right back, k?"

"Ok." Said Ron, "We'll be here." And Hermione left.

On her way to the bathroom, Hermione passed Neville. He looked tired and sweaty.

"What happened to you?" Hermione asked him.

"I had to chase Trevor around the whole school." Neville panted.

"Oh." Said Hermione.

"I guess I'm going to go take a shower now." Said Neville. "Bye."

"See you later." Hermione reached up to pat him on the shoulder. When she touched him she had another vision. The jolt of pain, which seemed to be getting progressively worse every time, went through her palm, up her arm, past her shoulder and when it reached her head she saw Neville falling outside the bathroom door.

When the vision was over Hermione found herself kneeling. The pain had caused her knees to buckle. Neville helped her up and asked if she was Ok. After Hermione reassured him that she was fine he left to go shower.

Hermione waited a while then went to stand outside the door of the bathroom that Neville had gone into. It wasn't long before she saw Peeves. He went into the bathroom and she heard a lot of racket before she saw him soar back out holding a pair of underwear with yellow smiley faces on them.

Then she heard Neville screaming, "Give me back my boxers Peeves!"

Hermione looked down and saw a puddle of water just outside the door where she had seen Neville slip in her vision. She took out her wand and muttered a drying spell. The water vanished. Then she pointed her wand at Peeves and yelled, "Accio underwear!"

They flew out of Peeves' hands and straight to Neville who had just come running out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and stopped right in front of Hermione when he saw his underwear flying.

Neville thanked Hermione then went back to finish his shower and she went to use the girl's bathroom. She sat on the toilet and finally relieved herself. Then she heard voices and footsteps at a distance slowly getting louder. It was Cho and Pansy.

"…look so ugly. But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right?" Said Pansy.

"Yup, the point is Ron likes her." Cho responded. "He really does have bad taste."

"Hideous taste, you mean." Corrected Pansy.

This made Hermione sad, angry and confused all at the same time. Which put her in a very … shall we say, unprecedented mood. She went straight to her dorm and sat on her bed.

Hermione thought about what she had just heard and her eyes started to water. Soon the tears were streaming down her cheeks. She turned her head sideways and looked at her reflection in her dresser mirror.

Right there and then she thought Cho and Pansy were right. She felt so ugly. Hermione brought her hands to her hair and tried to flatten it. But it didn't work, as soon as she lifted her hands her hair fluffed back out. Angry that it looked even bushier now, she tried again. This time running her fingers through it unceremoniously.

That was a very bad idea. Now she had hair sticking up at every end. This enraged her. She turned around, grabbed one of her pillows and started beating the hell out of it while tears of rage flowed freely down her face.

Hermione knew she shouldn't let Cho and Pansy get to her (especially Pansy) but she couldn't help it. Just then there was a knock on the door.

"Go away!" Hermione yelled without even asking who was knocking.

"No Hermione, I'm not leaving, now let me in." Said Ron.

_Ron? she thought. How the heck did he get up the spiral stair case without it turning into a slide?_

Hermione went to the door while wiping away her tears. When she opened it, her jaw dropped.

"Ron, you're floating." Said Hermione a little shocked.

"Yeah, I know, Lavender and Parvati used the levitating charm on me."

Hermione peeked out of the doorway. She saw Lavender and Parvati with their wands in their hands pointing them at Ron.

"Fine," said Hermione flatly, "Come in."

Lavender and Parvati levitated Ron into the room. He thanked them then closed the door. Hermione walked over to her bed and sat down. Ron came to the bed while saying that at first only Lavender tried to levitate him but he was too heavy so Parvati had to help. He sat down next to Hermione.

"Where are Harry and Ginny?" She asked Ron.

"They stayed outside." He replied. "I came looking for you cuz you never went back. Why do you look so sad?"

"Oh, um, I—I'm not sad, I just … I—"

Ron looked at her in a way that clearly said, 'I don't believe you' so Hermione gave up and told him what happened. By the time she had finished telling him, her eyes were sparkling with tears again and when she blinked a tear rolled down her cheek.

This time Ron caught it with his thumb and wiped it away. Then he brought both his hands up and cupped her cheeks. He looked her straight in the eyes and said, "'Mione look at me." Because she had lowered her gaze to look at her hands.

"'Mione please." Ron whispered and she slowly brought her gaze up to look into his eyes.

"'Mione, you are the prettiest girl I've ever met," He said sincerely. "Don't listen to what anyone says. Cho is just angry that Harry chose Ginny over her so she's just trying to put other people down to make herself feel better. And Pansy is just plain stupid so you shouldn't ever listen to anything she says. Just forget about what they said, ok?"

"Ok, thanks. I love you." Said Hermione.

"I love you, too. Now no more crying." He wiped away one last tear before embracing her.

"Ok." She said making herself comfy in his arms.

Ron kissed the top of Hermione's head and rubbed her back in a comforting way. Then she pulled away a little and leaned up to kiss him. Ron smiled against her lips then deepened the kiss. Hermione put her arms around Ron's neck and he put his around her waste pulling her closer to him.

The kiss grew more and more passionate as the minutes flew by. But they kept at it until Hermione finally pulled away and they both gasped for breath. Ron moved his mouth close to Hermione's neck. She could feel his hot breath as he panted. Ron moved in a bit closer and kissed her neck. Hermione tilted her head sideways to give him better access and let him know that she liked what he was doing.

He kissed her again, a little lower this time, then moved a bit of her hair that was in front of her shoulder to the back. Ron bent his head and kissed her collar bone but didn't lift his mouth, he began to suck.

Hermione moaned ever so quietly but she knew Ron heard it. He began to suck a little harder while slowly pushing her backwards. _He's trying to lay me down on the bed, isn't he_, Hermione thought. _Oh well, I have no objection to that. _She grabbed Ron's shoulders and pulled him down so that he was partly on top of her until he adjusted himself to be fully on top of her.

Ron was about to start kissing Hermione again when all of a sudden someone came bursting through the door. They both startled and jumped off the bed.

"You guys have to come to the common room right now, Professor McGonagall has something important to tell all the Gryffindors." Said Ginny anxiously. "Come on!" she turned around and left.

"Well I guess we should probably go." Said Ron.

"Yeah, come on." Hermione lead the way to the door and exited first.

Hermione had gone about three steps down before she remembered. She turned around and yelled, "Wait Ron! Don't step on the STAAAAAAAAAAAIRS!"

But it was too late. Ron and Hermione were on their butts, screaming and sliding down the spiral slide.

Their landing was quite ungraceful and attracted the attention of every single Gryffindor in the common room. Ron and Hermione stood up and dusted themselves off while trying to hide their embarrassed faces and ignore all the snickers coming from their fellow house mates.

McGonagall gave Ron a very stern look which caused him to flush and look at the floor.

"Now that you're all here," said Professor McGonagall, "I have some important things to tell you. First of all, Harry Potter was attacked …" A few students started whispering. "… by a Death Eater." Now the whole common room erupted with questions.

A/N: Please review, I really wonna know what you think about my fic. driver2lala-land thanks for reviewing the last chapter, you rock!


	4. A Letter from Mom

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Too bad, so sad. (just kidding)

Chapter 4: A Letter from Mom

"Now that you're all here," said Professor McGonagall, "I have some important things to tell you. First of all, Harry Potter was attacked …" A few students started whispering. "… by a Death Eater." Now the whole common room erupted with questions.

"Please quiet down." Said McGonagall.

"Professor, how did the Death Eater get into the school grounds?" asked a worried forth year.

"At the moment we don't know. All we know is that the Death Eater came out of the Forbidden Forest and attacked Mr. Potter as he was on his way back from visiting Hagrid." McGonagall answered. "When Hagrid saw what was happening he ran out of his hut to help Mr. Potter. This resulted in the Death Eater attacking him too. Both Hagrid and Mr. Potter are doing fine. Now I assure you that we have taken all the necessary precautions to ensure that it doesn't happen again. Everyone is of now forbidden to go closer than ten feet to the forest. And the Headmaster has ordered that nobody leave the common room for the remainder of the day without permission from the Head Boy or Girl."

As soon as McGonagall left Hermione turned to Ginny and asked, "Why did Harry go back to Hagrid's?"

"He didn't." Said Ginny with a slightly guilty look on her face. "He was in the Forbidden Forest. I just told McGonagall that he was visiting Hagrid so he wouldn't get in trouble."

"But why did he go into the forest?"

"Well, he said he saw a bunch of Thestrals fly into the forest. He thought it was odd; said he didn't know if it was a normal thing for them to fly in packs. So he went to his dorm, got his wand and invisibility cloak and headed toward the forest. I tried to stop him, but of course he wouldn't listen. So then I said I wanted to go with him, but he wouldn't let me. Can you believe that?" Ginny said in indignation.

Ron came to join them. "What are you girls up to?" He asked putting his arm around Hermione's shoulders.

"Ginny is telling me what happened." Hermione replied.

"Oh." He turned to Ginny. "Did you see the Death Eater attack Harry and Hagrid?"

"Yup," Said Ginny. "I saw the whole thing. All of a sudden Harry came running out of the forest closely pursued by the Death Eater. What was weird was that the Death Eater was holding a wand but he didn't use it on Harry. Instead he just threw a rock at Harry's head which knocked him out. Hagrid witnessed that from his window so he ran out of his hut yelling 'leave 'Arry alone!'. When the Death Eater saw Hagrid running toward him, he pointed his wand at him and used the Oblivius charm. Then I called Professor McGonagall and … you know the rest."

"Whoa," said Hermione. "Do you think we could go to the hospital wing and see Harry?"

"I don't know. We can ask." Said Ginny.

They went to the Head Boy and asked if they could go to the hospital wing but he said they were only allowed to leave if they had to go to the bathroom. So Hermione said, "I have to use the bathroom. Can I?"

"Sure." Said the Head Boy. _Yes! _"But the Head Girl has to escort you." _Damn!_

Later that night when Hermione was in bed she was wondering if she should sneak to the hospital wing to see Harry. At 2:00 AM she decided she would. _If I don't, I won't be able to sleep_.

Hermione got out of bed as quietly as possible and went down stairs. She was almost at the portrait hole when someone turned on a lamp. _Oh man_, she thought, _that's it. I'm busted. _

Hermione slowly turned around and saw Ron smiling at her. She let out a sigh of relief.

"I know you so well." Said Ron complacently. "I'm coming with you."

Ron and Hermione went to the hospital wing. Luckily Harry was already awake when they got there.

"How are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"I'm fine." Harry replied.

"So, what happened mate?" Asked Ron. "Did you see the Thestrals in the forest?"

"Actually, I don't remember what happened in the forest." Said Harry. "Madam Pomfrey says it's probably from being hit on the head with a rock. She said I should remember it in a few days."

"Um, Harry…" Hermione asked a bit nervously. "Would you mind if I used Legilimency to try and see if I can find out what happened in the forest?"

Harry thought about it for a while, "Sure, go ahead." He said.

Hermione took out her wand. She pointed it at Harry, "legilimens!"

Hermione saw flashes of the trees in the forest … a flash of a narrow passage way … a flash of a clearing … the leaves on the ground were moving but the trees seemed pretty still, so it couldn't have been the wind … then a flash of something materializing as if an invisibility cloak had been pulled off of it. It was an odd object … next a flash of about twenty masked figures materializing … a flash of a man who had removed his mask … a flash of him turning his pale face to look straight at Hermione (or actually Harry) … he raised his top lip so his teeth were visible then his two side teeth grew longer …

_OMG! _Hermione shrieked then found herself back in the hospital wing on the floor. As soon as Ron pulled her to her feet she ran to inspect Harry's neck. His neck looked fine. _Oh thank God_. She thought.

Hermione, are you alright?" Ron asked her.

"Uh, yeah I think so." She replied a little shakily.

"What did you see? Ron questioned.

"A va…" She gasped.

"A what?"

A vam … vam…" she was having difficulty getting the second syllable out. "Pi—pire." She finally managed in a shaky voice.

Harry then spoke up. "A vampire." He said.

"Did you see everything she saw?" Ron said.

"Yes."

"Whoa." Said Ron, "Vampires in the Forbidden Forest?"

"And a whole bunch of Death Eaters too." Harry added. Hermione whimpered.

Ron turned to her and said, "Don't worry. You heard what McGonagall said. They've taken all the necessary precautions to ensure that this doesn't happen again." He looked at Harry, "We should probably head back to the Gryffindor Tower before someone catches us."

"OK." Said Harry, "Thanks for coming to visit me."

"No problem." Said Ron, "See you tomorrow."

"See you. Bye Hermione."

"Bye." Hermione responded in a quiet voice.

Ron and Hermione crept back to the portrait of the Fat Lady and whispered the password but she didn't hear. She was fast asleep so Ron prodded her arm. The Fat Lady jerked awake.

"Oh," said Ron acting all innocent. "Since you're up, frog spawn."

The Fat Lady pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at Ron while rubbing her arm in the spot where he had poked her before swinging forward to let them in.

The common room was dark. The fire in the fireplace had either been put out or had burned itself out.

"Well, night." Said Hermione.

"Night." Ron replied. "So you're ok now, right?"

"Yeah"

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine … I'm fine." Hermione said not looking him in the eye and sounding like she was trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince him.

Ron walked closer to Hermione. He put a finger under her chin and lifted her head until she was looking at him.

"No one can hurt you as long as you're in the castle, you know that right? And you know I'd do anything to protect you."

"Yeah." Hermione smiled weakly. "I'm just being silly, I guess."

Ron leaned in and kissed her.

"We should probably get some sleep." Hermione said when he pulled away.

"Yeah, you're right." Ron said, but neither of them moved; they just stared at each other.

Hermione could tell that there was something Ron wanted to say. He opened his mouth for a few seconds but then just closed it again and looked at the floor for a few more seconds before looking back at her.

He opened his mouth and drew in a large breath as if he was readying himself to blurt out a long sentence. But no words came out so he just heaved a sigh and went to sit on the couch.

Hermione went to sit next to him. "Ron, is there something you wonna tell me?"

"Well, there's something I wonna ask you, actually." He said.

"Ask away." Hermione prompted.

"Um … well … no, it's stupid." Ron said quickly then looked away.

"Ron. Just ask. You know I won't think it's stupid." He slowly looked back at her. "Come on." She said in a soft, encouraging voice.

"Earlier up in your dorm before Gin came in, when we were…" He began to blush. "Well, you know." He continued timidly. "Have you thought about it?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because I've thought about it all day and I—well, I liked it a lot and I just wanted to know how you felt about it."

"About that," Hermione said. "I really wanted to thank you."

"Am I that good of a kisser?" Ron joked.

"You're a great kisser." Hermione humored him. "But I mean it, I'm really grateful … thank you for comforting me."

Ron put his hand on her cheek then began stroking it with his thumb. Hermione leaned into his touch and smiled at him.

Suddenly Fang started barking. They got off the couch and went to look out the window. A small crowd was formed outside the opened door of Hagrid's hut.

Hermione tried to make out the people's faces. She saw someone with long, silver-white hair just like Lucius'. She became a little uneasy at the notion of him being there. But then she saw McGonagall emerge from Hagrid's hut and speak to that person. _There's no way it could be Lucius_, Hermione thought as relief washed over her.

Ron and Hermione watched as Hagrid left the Hogwarts grounds with the group of people, Fang closely at their heels.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other. Why is he leaving?" Hermione said.

"And where is he going?" Ron added.

They noticed that McGonagall and another person were going inside the castle. Ron and Hermione looked at each other for a few moments. Hermione knew what Ron was thinking. He wanted to go find out who that person was. But Hermione wasn't so sure if that was a good idea. _We've already snuck out to the hospital wing. Leaving again is really pushing our luck. But I would like to know if Hagrid's ok._

She looked up at Ron, "Ok, let's go spy on McGonagall."

Ron became light with joy. "Oh I love you so much!" He said jubilantly giving her a bear hug.

They exited the portrait hole. Hand-in-hand they went down stair cases and walked along corridors preying that they didn't run into Filch, Mrs. Norris or Peeves.

As they reached the marble stair case they heard McGonagall in the Entrance Hall talking to a woman who sounded so familiar.

Hermione peeked around the corner of the wall. She could only see the back of the woman. _She has nice hair_, Hermione thought. It was waist length with loose curls; a golden-brown hue with highlights.

McGonagall told the woman, "For a month at the most."

"Really?" The woman responded. "That's all he'll need?"

"It should be." McGonagall said. "We'll be in touch. Have a good trip."

"Thanks. Bye."

"Bye." Said McGonagall as she went to open the oak front door. The woman left.

McGonagall closed the door then headed toward the stairs. Ron and Hermione panicked. Hermione started looking around to see where they could hide when Ron grabbed her hand and pulled her to a huge statue.

They squeezed behind it and saw as McGonagall passed. Hermione hadn't realized she was holding her breath until the sound of McGonagall's footsteps were gone and she released it.

Ron and Hermione ran outside and caught up with the woman.

"Excuse me, Miss." Hermione said.

The woman turned around.

"Tonks!" Ron and Hermione said simultaneously.

"Well hi there. How are ya?" Tonks asked.

"We're fine. You?" said Hermione.

"I'm doing good."

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked.

"A few members of the Order and I came as a request from Dumbledore to take Hagrid to Romania." She answered.

"Why?"

"Well, it's believed that people have a better chance of recovering from a memory charm if they're around something they used to love." Said Tonks. "So we're taking him to be with Norbert."

"He'll love that." Said Hermione sadly.

"Hey, don't worry." Tonks said. "He'll be fine, I'm sure he will. Well I better go. It was nice seeing you two. Say hi to Harry for me."

"We will." Hermione responded. "Bye."

"Bye." Said Ron.

"See ya." Tonks turned around and left.

Ron looked at Hermione, "What should we do now?"

"I don't know. I'm not really sleepy." Hermione said.

"Me neither." Ron looked at the castle. "And I don't fancy having to sneak all the way back to the Gryffindor tower either. Maybe we should go to Hagrid's hut for a while."

"Ok." Hermione agreed.

They went inside the hut. Hagrid's furniture consisted of a wooden table with four matching wooden chairs and a huge bed. (Well, huge to them. But not to Hagrid.)

Hermione didn't feel like sitting on the hard chairs so she sat on the bed and Ron joined her.

"I'm going to miss him." Hermione said.

"Me too." Ron told her. "But you know what. I can owl Charlie tomorrow and ask him how Hagrid's doing."

Speaking of owls…

A tawny owl came fluttering through the open window and dropped a role of parchment on Ron's lap.

"Whoa, who would be owling me at this time?" Ron unrolled the parchment.

Hermione looked over his shoulder and saw that it was a letter from his mom. She read it in her mind. It said:

Dear Ron,

You're probably sleeping now, but I wanted to write as soon as I could.

I'm at St. Mungo's with your father. He was attacked while he was at the

Ministry of Magic. He's in critical condition. The Healers are doing

everything they can. Please stay away from the Forbidden Forest. I love

you and Ginny so much. Please break the news to her gently. I'll write

again as soon as I can.

Love,

Mom

Hermione finished reading then looked up at Ron's face. He looked so worried. He was just staring at the parchment without even moving his eyes so she knew he was finished reading too.

Actually, he wasn't even blinking. It's like he was in a stupor.

Hermione put her hand on Ron's back. "Ron?" She said rubbing his back in a comforting way.

He didn't answer but at least he started blinking and looked away from the letter.

"Are you Ok?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah." He replied lowering the hand he was holding the letter in and looking out the window.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Ron." Hermione tried to comfort but it didn't really seem to work.

She didn't know what she could say to make him feel better. Ron let go of the letter and Hermione watched as it glided to the floor. Her eyes lingered on it for a moment as it lay motionless until she heard Ron take in a shaky breath and looked back at him.

Ron raised one hand and with his thumb and index finger rubbed his eyes then placed his face in both of his hands. _Oh Ron, you're breaking my heart_.

"Ron." Hermione said in a gentle voice. "Look at me."

Ron raised his head slightly out of his hands and looked sideways at her. His hair had fallen onto his forehead and was kind of covering his eyes. Hermione raised her hand up to his forehead and brushed it back.

"Ron." She said. "I'm really sorry about your dad … I know how you must be feeling … sad … worried … even frustrated because your mom didn't give you too much detail about his condition. She didn't even say who attacked him. Or why she wants you to stay away from the forest. But I'm sure your dad will be fine. And if you want to you can owl your mom right now and ask anything you want to know. Or if you just feel like talking … I'm right here … I'll always be here for you. I want you to know that. And I want you to know that I love you, Ron. I love you so much and I am the luckiest girl in the world to have you in my life."

Hermione was delighted to see that he no longer had a worried look on his face.

"I'm the one who's lucky." Ron said in a soft voice. He pulled Hermione closer to him and kissed her lightly. Then, looking deep into her eyes, he said, "I love you."

Hermione gave him a big smile then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

Ron responded deepening the kiss and running his hands up and down her back.

Ron had never kissed her like this before, with such intensity. It was like he was pouring every ounce of every single emotion he was feeling into this kiss.

He pulled Hermione as close as he could and embraced her tightly. Hermione was now completely lost in the moment.

Ron broke the kiss only to move down to her neck, where he began working his magic. Hermione let the moans flow freely out of her mouth. And they seemed to be encouraging Ron. With every moan he became more and more confident.

One of Ron's hands was now on the move. Hermione felt as it abandoned her back, slid slowly around her side and came to rest on her stomach.

Ron suddenly ceased his ravishment on Hermione's neck, much to her dismay, and brought his forehead to rest on hers. He was breathing hard.

The hand resting on Hermione's stomach began to move upwards. _Higher … higher … almost there … yes! _Ron captured her lips again as he began fondling her curve. _Is it just me_, Hermione thought, _or is it getting hot in here?_

Apparently it wasn't just Hermione. Ron seemed to be getting hot too because he pulled away from her and took off his cloak. Hermione used this chance to take hers off too.

Their cloaks now discarded, they picked up where they left off. Minutes flew by and they just kept kissing each other as if their lives depended on it.

They had never spent so long making out before. But then again maybe that was because they never had this much privacy.

But Hermione didn't want to think about that right now. All she wanted to think about was the feel of Ron's lips on hers; the feel of his hands caressing every inch of her body making her tingle all over.

Before Hermione knew what was happening she was lying on her back, Ron's body on top of hers, pressing her into the mattress. He brought his hands to the top button of her shirt and opened it. Then opened the next and the next until all the buttons were open.

In a haze Hermione felt as Ron slid her shirt off her shoulders then proceeded to dispose of her bra. If Hermione was enraptured before, it was nothing compared to what she felt when Ron captured one of her peaks in his mouth.

The sweet torment had Hermione writhing. She thought it might actually be possible to die of pleasure. Ron ran his hand down the length of Hermione's leg then trailed it back up and brought it to rest on her knee as he moved his mouth to her neglected peak.

Hermione felt the warm pads of Ron's finger tips slowly sliding up her inner thigh. She was pretty sure his finger tips were headed toward her panties and that made her squirm with anticipation. Closer … closer … the movement of Ron's finger tips became super slow—almost daunting, then, much to Hermione's delight, reached their final destination.

Hermione's last thought before her brain melted was, _wow! Chess isn't the only thing Ron is good at._

It wasn't long before Hermione reached the point of no return. Once she caught her breath, she opened her eyes to find Ron laying beside her with his head propped up on one hand. He was looking at her with adoration in his eyes.

Hermione put her hand behind his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. After a while Ron suddenly pulled away.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"If we don't stop now," Ron told her. "I might not be able to stop at all—if you know what I mean."

"Oh. But … I don't want to stop." Hermione said.

Ron's expression became serious and he asked, "Are you sure?"

Hermione smiled slightly and nodded. Without another word Ron captured her lips.

Soon not one piece of clothing stood between them. As Ron positioned himself between Hermione's legs, he looked her straight in the eyes and asked one last time, "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Hermione whispered and without further ado he entered her.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry it took me a while to update. I wonna thank everyone who has reviewed, you guys made my day. Keep on reviewing! Thanks! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.


	5. The Forbidden Forest

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 5: The Forbidden Forest

The next day Hermione woke up and found herself alone on the bed. She wondered where Ron was.

Hermione got out of bed then realized she was in the buff so she grabbed the sheet and wrapped it around herself.

Then Ron came out of the bathroom, "Good morning." He kissed her.

"Morning." Hermione replied against his lips.

They shared a quick smile then got dressed and left Hagrid's hut. As they were walking to the castle they noticed purple smoke rising from the tree tops of the Forbidden Forest.

"What the hell?" Ron said. He started walking in the direction of the forest.

"Ron!" Hermione grabbed his arm. "What are you doing? You remember what your mom said in the letter. She doesn't want you to go near the forest. Besides, McGonagall also said we weren't allowed to."

"All right, fine." He said.

They continued to the castle. It was almost breakfast time so they hurried.

When they reached the common room they said bye to each other then went to their dormitories. Hermione went up the spiral stair case. She opened the door to her dorm and found Ginny sitting on her bed.

"Where the heck were you all night?" Ginny asked.

"In Hagrid's hut." Hermione said.

"Doing what?"

"Nothing." Hermione answered quickly. A bit too quickly.

Ginny eyed her suspiciously, "Why are you so jumpy?"

"I'm not." Hermione said awkwardly. "I was at Hagrid's hut last night because Ron and I saw that he was leaving—"

Ginny cut her off, "He's gone?" She said sadly. "But why?"

"It's not forever. Just until his memory comes back." Hermione told her.

"Oh." Ginny said. "Where did he go?"

"They took him to Romania to be with Norbert."

"Who is 'they'?" Ginny asked.

"Tonks and some other members of the Order." Hermione said. "We also went to see Harry."

"You did? Why didn't you guys invite me?" Ginny sounded a bit hurt.

"Oh … I'm sorry, I didn't know if you were awake. We went at 2:00 AM."

"That's ok. So what did you and Ron do all night? Smooch?"

"No." Hermione's throat became a little dry. "We just talked a while then fell asleep."

"Sure you did." Ginny didn't seem convinced at all.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny went to the Great Hall. They sat at the table, filled their plates and started eating. Then they saw Harry walking toward them.

"Good morning." He sat at the table with them.

"Good morning. I can't believe Madam Pomfrey let you out already." Said Ginny.

"Well, it took a few minutes of begging but she finally gave in."

"Hey, guess what? Ron said to Harry. "I saw purple smoke emerging from the tree tops of the Forbidden Forest this morning."

"Really?" Harry sounded intrigued. "We should check it out."

"I don't believe it!" Hermione scolded. "Harry, how can you say that?

"Do you want to get attacked by a Death Eater again?" Ginny asked heatedly. She was as angry as Hermione was.

"I'm sure the Death Eater is gone by now." Harry said. "Aren't you just a little curious about the purple smoke?"

"No." said Hermione and Ginny sadistically which caused Harry to cower.

"Ok. We surrender." Said Ron waving his white napkin like a flag.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Ron." Hermione said. "It's time for class. Come on, we don't want to be late."

Later that afternoon, after their classes were over, the trio and Ginny were in the common room talking when Harry suddenly said "Ouch!" and put his hand on his forehead.

"Harry, are you ok?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said. "It's just my scar. I think I'm gonna go outside for some fresh air."

"I'll come with you." Said Ginny. They got up to leave.

_What if Harry gets any ideas to go to the forest while he's out there?_ Hermione thought, _Ginny won't be able to stop him. She wasn't able to last time._

Hermione stood up, "I'm going outside too. How about you Ron?"

"Yeah, sure." He said.

On the way out Hermione asked Ron quietly, "When are you gonna tell Ginny about your dad?"

"I don't know. Maybe tomorrow, I just don't wonna see her sad." He said.

They all exited the castle and went down the stone steps. It was a cool afternoon. The wind was blowing softly. Hermione noticed how nice Ginny's hair looked swaying in the breeze.

"Wow, you have nice hair." Hermione told her. "What shampoo do you use?"

"Herbal Essences." Ginny said. "It leaves my hair so soft. Feel it."

Hermione reached up to touch her hair. As soon as she did she felt that notorious jolt of pain sear from her hand all the way to her head. The pain was almost unbearable this time. It felt like her head was going to split in half. What she saw in the vision was Ginny being dragged into the Forbidden Forest by Cho and Pansy.

When it was over Hermione found herself lying on the ground clutching her head. Ron, Harry and Ginny were all beside her.

_Oh my God_, she thought. She started to cry but she didn't know why. Maybe it was the after shock from the pain, or, what she saw in the vision.

Ron held Hermione in his arms and asked, "What happened?"

"I had a vision." She said. "The pain gets worse every time."

They all looked at her as if she was from another planet.

"Um, Hermione, what are you talking about?" Ron asked warily.

"Remember when I told you about the fortune-teller?"

"Yes."

"Well, I think she gave me this … ability. Remember the night after the Hogsmeade trip when I hugged Ginny and went rigid. You asked me what happened but I didn't tell you." She turned to Ginny. "I had a vision of Harry slapping you."

"What!" Ron looked at Harry.

Harry looked a little uneasy. "I didn't know what I was doing, mate. You gotta believe me."

"Just calm down, Ron." Ginny said. She turned to Hermione. "So you actually foresaw Harry slapping me?

"Yes."

"What did you see this time?" Harry asked.

Hermione threw Ginny a distressed glance then looked at the ground and said, "I saw Cho and Pansy dragging Ginny into the Forbidden Forest."

Ginny immediately wanted to go confront Cho.

Harry had to hold her back. "I don't think that's a good idea." He said.

"Why not? Are you afraid she won't wonna talk to you anymore?"

"Ginny, you're becoming irrational." Said Ron. "You can't confront Cho. You have no proof."

"Don't worry." Harry told Ginny putting his arm around her shoulders. "We won't let you out of our site. And we'll keep an eye on Cho and Pansy. At the first sign of them doing anything suspicious we'll tell Dumbledore."

They all went to dinner with their wands securely in their pockets. Hermione noticed that McGonagall wasn't there. Then Colin Creevey came into the Great Hall and told Ginny that McGonagall wanted to speak to her.

"Where is she?" Ginny asked Colin.

"In her office." He said then went to sit next to his friends.

Ginny looked at Harry, "I guess I'll be right back."

"Should I come with you?" Harry asked.

"No, that's ok. Just make sure Cho and Pansy stay here."

"Ok." Said Harry. Ginny got up and left the Great Hall.

The trio kept their eyes on Cho and Pansy. They watched their every move until a fight broke out. A huge crowd formed so quickly around the fighters and blocked the trio's view of Pansy and Cho.

Dumbledore shot sparks out of his wand to get everyone's attention. He told everybody to sit down at their tables. As the crowd began to disperse, Hermione noticed that Cho wasn't at the Ravenclaw table. She looked over at the Slytherin table. Pansy was gone too.

Hermione looked at Ron and Harry. They, too, had noticed the absence of Cho and Pansy. Without a word, the trio ran out of the Great Hall. One of he oak doors was slightly ajar. They ran down the stone steps and into the chilly night just in time to see Cho and Pansy dragging Ginny into the Forbidden Forest.

"We have to tell Dumbledore." Hermione said even though all of them were already running toward the forest.

The trio ran into the forest. They couldn't see Ginny anymore so they followed the sound of Pansy's voice. She was yelling, "Damn Weasley, that hurt!" and "Stop kicking my shins!" and "Ouch! You almost poked my eye out you bitch!"

Then they heard Cho, "Let go of my hair! Ouch! She just pulled out a chunk of my hair! I'm gonna have a bald spot! You'll pay for this, Weasley, mark my words."

The trio finally reached a clearing. But no one was there. There was no sign of Ginny, Pansy or Cho. Then suddenly a Death Eater materialized as if he had pulled off an invisibility cloak. He was not masked.

_Oh no_, Hermione thought, _they could be anywhere_. She looked around on the ground to see if she could see any leaves moving. She noticed that Ron was slowly reaching for his wand while Harry was clutching his scar. His eyes were shut tight and he was breathing uneven.

"Accio wands!" Someone screamed. But not the Death Eater that had taken off the cloak. That Death Eater was just standing there, watching them.

Hermione watched as her wand flew out of her pocket and into the trees_. There must be Death Eaters everywhere_, she thought feeling so vulnerable.

Then Harry collapsed and the Death Eater who was watching them looked pleased. Hermione was wondering why Harry's scar was hurting when suddenly someone grabbed her from behind. She looked over at Ron, someone was holding him too and he was trying to break free.

Then a Death Eater emerged from the trees. He removed his mask and Ron started ranting, "I knew you were behind all this! What did you do to my dad you bastard? Where are you keeping my sister?" He roared, struggling and kicking madly, trying to launch himself at Lucius; all the while letting out frustrated yells because his attempts were futile.

Hermione started looking around, squinting, trying to make out any figures in the trees. She was trying to think of a plan.

Lucius approached Ron. He told him that he would let everyone go if he would help him with something.

"You're lying!" Ron said. "You would never let us go. I'm not helping you with anything."

Lucius looked angry. "You will help me." He said. He looked at the Death Eater who was standing there the whole time and said, "Lift the invisibility cloak."

The Death Eater pulled an invisibility cloak off of an object.

_Oh my God_, Hermione thought. This is the odd object she saw when she preformed Legilimency on Harry. It was as tall as the Death Eater's waste; not too wide. Its color was a silver blue-ish and it was a bit transparent. Hermione could see smoke moving inside. There was a door on the top and there were weird shapes engraved on the side. They looked like symbols actually, but nothing she had ever read about in any book. The object didn't even look ancient.

Lucius walked over to it. Hermione looked at Ron and saw that he didn't seem to be intrigued by this odd object, as if he had already seen it. Lucius reached for the handle of the door and opened it. Immediately a purple blaze ignited causing purple smoke to rise high above the tree tops.

The flames started to take form. Transforming, shaping themselves into the top half of a human body. It was huge. The features started to become clearer. It raised a large hand with long fingers high in the air. Hermione was so mesmerized by what was happening. She took her eyes off the hand and looked at the enormous face then gasped.

She would've thought it was a snake if she hadn't seen the arms. But she had seen the arms and she knew exactly whose face she was looking at. His snake-like features contorted in disgust; his malevolent eyes with slits for pupils boring into hers.

"Filthy mudblood." Hermione heard him hiss, a split second before she realized that the hand he had raised was soaring toward her.

A million thoughts flew through her mind. _I'm gonna die. It's gonna hurt. He might start me on fire. I have to run. Why won't my legs budge?_

She barely had time to grit her teeth and squeeze her eyes tightly shut before he slashed her across her stomach. It felt like five hot knives were slicing through her insides. She wanted to scream but no sound came out of her mouth. The scorching pain was unbearable. It felt like his hand was going in slow motion. The only thing she could do was hope for it to end.

It was over. His hand was gone, leaving Hermione feeling as if she had a fever. She was hot and sweaty. She opened her eyes but couldn't see anything, her vision was so blurry. She couldn't hear anything either. She was totally oblivious to her surroundings. _Maybe I'm not in the forest anymore_, Hermione thought, _maybe I'm in my dorm. Maybe this was just a nightmare. But why is someone gripping my arms so tight? Come to think of it, I can't feel my legs._

She blinked a couple of times and looked around. Everything started to come into focus. She was able to see Ron; he was fighting wildly trying to break free. Hermione's hearing was returning too. She heard Lucius call some Death Eaters to come help contain Ron. They came into the clearing.

"Just don't hurt him," Lucius said. "Remember, we need him."

"Let me go!" Ron yelled. "Hermione! Hermione, are you ok?"

Hermione opened her mouth to say 'I'm fine' but before she could the Death Eater holding her let go and she fell to the ground. She was starting to get a little feeling back in her legs but not enough to support her weight.

The Death Eater said, "Enough fooling around." He took out his wand. "Immobilus!" he shouted, pointing it at Ron. Ron became as still as stone.

Hermione started to break down now. All she wanted to do was go home and be with her parents in the muggle world, away from all this evil. She still felt hot. The memory of Voldemort's fingers going through her was so fresh in her mind. Hermione put her hand inside her shirt and felt her stomach. It felt smooth, she couldn't feel any cuts.

She looked at Harry who was still lying on the ground. Hermione started to cry, wondering what was going to happen to them. They didn't even know where Ginny was or what condition she was in.

"Now it's time for you to listen." She heard Lucius say to Ron. "This is a weapon," He pointed at the silver blue-ish object. "that your father and some other wizards built."

Hermione looked at the weapon and saw that the purple flame was gone. Not that she was complaining, but she wondered why Voldemort hadn't tortured her more and why he wasn't even present now.

Lucius spoke again. "As you probably already know, your father is at St. Mungo's. But what you probably don't know is that I injected him with a deadly potion … a potion that we invented … only we have the antidote … only we can save him. As you know, this weapon was made for the sole purpose of destroying The Dark Lord. It seems like Dumbledore discovered a way to avoid the prophecy. He ordered the Department of Mystery workers along with your father to build it straight away. They thought it was being kept well secret but they were wrong. One of the workers has a big mouth. He was telling his friends all about it one day in Hogsmeade Village. Little did he know that my son Draco was listening to every word. We kidnapped that man, found out everything he knew, modified his memory, used the Imperius Curse on him then sent him on his way. After that he kept us updated on the progress of the weapon; told us that they were working on it twenty-four hours a day, taking shifts. For that reason we weren't able to steel it until it was completed, when only spells and a few guards would be protecting it. So we had no choice but to wait … and wait … and wait, until finally it was done. During all our waiting, we invented a poisonous potion. Your father happened to be one of the guards guarding the weapon on the day we decided to steel it. Security wasn't as high as we thought it would be—but then again, they had no idea that we knew anything about the weapon. It was easy getting past the spells and even easier injecting everyone with our potion."

Lucius took a breath. "Whilst we were in the Department of Mysteries, we discovered something that we had never once contemplated. Another prophecy was told."

_Oh my God_, Hermione thought, _another prophecy?_ She looked at Ron's face; he looked just as astonished as she was.

"I have the parchment right here actually." Lucius pulled out a roll of parchment from his pocket. "Lucky for us someone wrote it down." He said while unrolling it. He read, "He has returned … more strong and powerful than ever … he must be stopped before he commences his reign of terror … a way will be discovered … he will get caught in the flames … the sixth son of a pure-blood family is the only person who can free or destroy him forever." Lucius rolled up the parchment and put it back in his pocket. He raised his wand and pointed it at Ron, "Finite." He said.

Ron was able to move again. He looked at Hermione. Seeing that she was on the ground, he instinctively tried to go to her but was stopped by the Death Eaters.

Lucius spoke, "I will allow you to ask me questions now and I will answer them."

Ron looked at him. "Where's Ginny?" He asked.

"She's right here. Bring her out!" He said looking at the trees to his left.

Two Death Eaters brought her into the clearing. She was crying and looking at the ground.

"What did you do to her?" Ron said. "Gin, are you ok?" she didn't answer. "Gin … Gin … answer me." He looked at Lucius. "You bastard, I'll kill you!" He tried to charge at him, but of course couldn't, the Death Eaters were unbelievably strong.

"Calm down." Said Lucius. "I didn't do anything to her. She's just scared. She wants this to be over. And if you cooperate with us, this will all be over with soon and you can go back to the castle … like this never even happened."

"I'll cooperate if you let Ginny, Hermione and Harry go." Said Ron.

Hermione sat up; she wanted to hear what Lucius was going to say.

"I can let the girls go but Potter stays."

"No way." Said Ron firmly. "Let them all go or I won't cooperate."

"Oh, but I think you will." Lucius sneered. "Boys!" He called out. "Looks like you'll be drinking tonight after all. You don't mind mudbloods, do you?" He added looking at Ron with an evil grin on his face.

Ron looked furious.

The eyes of the two Death Eaters holding Ginny flashed red. They looked excited. Hermione then saw five more guys come into the clearing. They, too, looked excited. They were licking their lips. Hermione watched as their side teeth elongated. She was getting a bit nervous now. She hoped Lucius was only trying to scare them.

Hermione tore her gaze from the vampires' fangs and looked at their pale faces. Three, she didn't know. One, she kind of thought looked familiar. And the last one, she recognized … that face … he was the one she saw in Harry's mind.

"I assume you're ready to cooperate now?" Lucius asked Ron.

"No." Ron answered defiantly.

Lucius looked taken aback but quickly recovered.

_Ron, what are you doing?_ Hermione thought.

Lucius' expression turned extremely spiteful. He looked at the vampire who Hermione thought looked familiar. The vampire looked expectant. Lucius nodded. What happened next made Hermione think she was never gonna see the light of day again. All the vampires roared, bearing their fangs, while the vampire that Lucius nodded at took a massive leap and landed behind Hermione.

Hermione's heart was beating so fast. She thought it might literally burst through her chest. The vampire grabbed her by her hair and pulled her into a standing position. Hermione was shaking madly but at least her legs were able to support her.

The rest of the vampires quieted down. Ron kept saying, "I'll cooperate. I'll do anything you want me to do, just please don't hurt her. Please." But Lucius pretended like he couldn't hear him.

Hermione could feel the vampire behind her moving. It's like he was restless and couldn't keep still. Actually, all of them, she noticed, looked really restless with anticipation.

Lucius looked at the vampire who was still holding Hermione by the hair, and said, in his nastiest voice yet, "She's all yours. Do what you want to her. Oh, and make sure Weasley has a good view." He addressed that last sentence to the Death Eaters holding Ron.

They obliged with pleasure. Everyone in the clearing was now looking at Hermione. Including Ginny; she was so pale that she almost looked dead. Ron looked very panicky, though he wasn't saying anything or even trying to move. Perhaps he was trying to think of a plan or maybe he just finally realized that any attempts would be useless.

Without warning, the vampire pulled Hermione's head to the side—with a bit more force than was needed. All the other vampires started cheering him on.

"Come on, Blaise!" Shouted one vampire.

"Yeah, show that mudblood what we can do!" Yelled another.

Hermione became numb all over. _Blaise?_ She thought. _Blaise Zabini? That would explain why he looked so familiar. _She couldn't believe that a Hogwarts student was a vampire. She wondered if Dumbledore knew. Just like how he knew that Lupin was a werewolf and he still allowed him to attend Hogwarts.

Blaise's voice pulled Hermione abruptly out of her thoughts. He had put his mouth close to her ear and whispered, "I can smell your blood. I can hear it pumping through your veins. It's calling me." He then proceeded to trail his fangs along her neck.

This was torture for Hermione. She kept thinking, _any minute now … he's gonna punch two holes in my neck and drink my blood … I'm never gonna see Ron or my parents or Ginny or Harry or anyone ever again. _She couldn't hold them back any longer; the tears started escaping her eyes.

Blaise was holding her head so much to the side that it was practically pushing on her shoulder. Hermione seriously thought that if he kept that up much longer she was going to become Nearly-Headless-Hermione.

The vampires piped up again, "You're killing us, Blaise." Said one, in a somewhat strangled tone of voice.

"Get on with it already. Come on, fuck her brains out!" Another one egged him on.

"Yeah Blaise, make her scream." Encouraged one vampire.

"Until she doesn't have anymore screams left in her." Chimed in another.

"Yeah!" One vampire started cheering and the others followed suit.

Blaise threw Hermione on the ground. The vampires made noises of approval, staring intently. None of them dared blink lest they miss something.

_What is he doing?_ Hermione thought. _Why is he taking off his belt? _She watched as he pulled his belt out of the belt loops of his pants and dropped it beside him on the ground. _Oh no_, she thought, _he's not gonna—oh my God, he is! _Horror-struck, Hermione saw him open the button of his pants; wishing she were dead, she saw him pull down the zipper.

Blaise didn't pull down his pants, he just pulled out his required part. He kicked Hermione's legs, quite unceremoniously, apart and kneeled between them. He then pulled up her skirt and ripped off her panties.

Hermione was now exposed to everyone in the clearing. She felt so ashamed; she didn't want to look at Ron or Ginny. She closed her eyes as Blaise put his hands on her knees and spread her legs as wide apart as they would go.

Hermione braced herself. She knew Blaise was going to try to hurt her as much as he could. He lay on top of her. Either he was extremely heavy or it was just the anxiety that was constricting Hermione's lungs because she suddenly felt like the collar of her shirt was way too tight.

Blaise prodded her womanly area with his erection. Hermione had never felt more revolted in her life. _Eww!_ She thought as she felt him trail his tongue along her cheek.

He then moved his hand in between her legs and stuck one long finger inside her. Deeper and deeper it went. Hermione wanted to die. She couldn't take it anymore. She covered her face with her hands and tried to imagine that she was back in the castle, in the warmth and safety of the Gryffindor common room instead if here lying on the forest ground like an exhibitionist.

But this reverie was short-lived. She was brought crashing back to reality when Blaise withdrew his finger abruptly then grabbed her wrists and held them above her head.

"Open your eyes." Blaise muttered harshly. Hermione kept them closed.

There was a definite tone of menace lacing his voice now as he grasped her throat with his free hand and repeated. "Open your eyes."

As soon as Hermione opened her eyes his grip loosened.

"I want you to look at your boyfriend." Blaise told her as she choked trying to catch her breath. He turned her head sideways so she could look at Ron.

But she didn't; she couldn't. Instead she raised her gaze and looked at the vampires. They looked as if they were a bunch of dogs staring at a big, juicy piece of steak. _They're disgusting!_ Hermione thought just a split second before the world went very still. She hadn't expected Blaise to enter her. But he had and she hadn't even had time to brace herself.

Not until he started to withdraw slowly, did she recover from the initial shock of being caught off guard as he had plunged hard and deep into her. When his full length was almost all the way out he thrust a second time using all his might.

This time Hermione shut her eyes tight and clenched her teeth as the excruciating pain took her breath away. Just as Blaise began to pull out again Hermione heard someone yell something then felt Blaise collapse on top of her.

A/N: Please review! Tell me what you think. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.


	6. New Surroundings

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 6: New Surroundings

Just as Blaise began to pull out again Hermione heard someone yell something then felt Blaise collapse on top of her.

One of the Death Eaters said, "What happened?"

Another Death Eater asked someone, in an angry voice, "Why did you do that?"

Hermione opened her eyes as she heard Lucius say, "Get the girls out of the clearing."

A Death Eater came and lifted Blaise off of Hermione then pulled her to her feet and dragged her into the trees. Ginny was taken into a different part of the trees, so Hermione didn't know what was happening to her.

Hermione smoothed down her skirt wishing she had her underwear with her. She was being pulled through the trees by the Death Eater. The noise from the commotion back in the clearing started to grow fainter and Hermione wandered where the Death Eater was taking her.

Soon they emerged from the forest and started going to the castle. As they were walking, the Death Eater wrapped an invisibility cloak around them. He pulled Hermione up the stone steps and through the oak front doors then headed to the dungeons.

Hermione was nervous and she tried to get away but the Death Eater threatened her so she stopped trying. They entered the dungeons. He dragged her along a corridor. They passed a few doors and then the Death Eater stopped and knocked on one.

A very familiar voice called out, "Enter."

The Death Eater opened the door, shoved Hermione inside then shut it behind her.

Hermione was pushed so hard that she fell on her hands and knees. Still on her knees, she looked up to assess her new surroundings. She was in what appeared to be someone's private dormitory.

Clearly only one person sleeps in here. Instead if there being a few four-poster beds, there was only one king sized bed covered in green silk sheets. And a little to the right of the bed stood Draco, his eyes glinting with malice, a nasty little grin plastered on his mouth.

_Of course_, Hermione thought, _who else would have a dorm of his own._

"Get up." Draco's voice was silky.

Hermione had forgotten that she was on the floor. She was thinking about what happened in the forest, wondering if Harry, Ron and Ginny were ok. And not to mention, she still felt a slight twinge between her legs. Which reminds her—_what happened to Blaise? Did he just collapse by himself or did someone hit him across the head? _She fleetingly wondered if it was because she had muggle blood in her, but then dismissed that idea because it sounded very far-fetched.

And anyway, all she cared about was that at least Blaise hadn't got to finish what he started. She just wished Ginny and Ron hadn't witnessed it. Which made her think of something else. _What if Ron won't want me anymore because of that? No … no he wouldn't do that_, Hermione tried to reassure herself, _he—_

"I told you to stand up." Draco had moved closer to her.

Hermione looked up and saw Draco looking at her. His voice was still silky smooth and quite patient as he added, "It's better if you just oblige … you don't want to anger me, do you?"

_What the hell is up with him_,Hermione wondered,_ he sure is acting very … well … weird! _He would have normally just used a spell to roughly haul her to her feet. Or if he did ask her to stand up, it wouldn't have been with that tone, it would've been in his usual nasty sneer. And he wouldn't just ask her, he would order her.

Hermione stood up and looked at Draco. There was no mistaking the hint of sheer jubilation that flickered momentarily deep in his eyes as if he was recalling some delightful memory or something.

But his voice held no trace of joyous feelings as he stated coolly, "You don't look as roughed up as I thought you would be. I presume since you're here, Weasley chose to be stubborn. I personally thought he cared about you since he did tell you he loved you that night when you guys were sitting under a tree." He saw Hermione's query look and explained. "You know, that night after the Hogsmeade trip."

Hermione remembered now. She and Ron had heard something make a sound in the bushes but never found out what. Well now she knew. "You were spying on us." She accused.

Draco shook his head nonchalantly.

"Oh yeah, then how do you know what Ron said to me?" Hermione challenged.

"A Slytherin just happened to be out there that night. He … well … how can I put this? Draco raised his eyes to look at the ceiling, contemplatively. "You see," He said lowering his gaze to look at Hermione again, "he's not the most attractive guy in his year. Ok, he's not attractive at all. He has never had a girlfriend but that doesn't stop him from being a guy, and guys have needs. So he has resorted to servicing himself every now and then. And since I'm the only person who has my own dorm, he has trouble finding privacy. So that night he was looking for privacy behind the bush."

_Oh my God,_ Hermione thought, _a bush … a bush was the only thing separating me and Ron from a Slytherin who was jerking off. Nasty!_ She shuttered and Draco noticed.

"Cold?" He raised one eyebrow questioningly.

"No." Hermione answered flatly. "What am I doing here anyway?"

"First rule." Draco stated. "I do the questioning around here."

"Rule?" Hermione scoffed incredulously. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm the person who has to keep you out of the way until your little boyfriend can fulfill the prophecy." Draco responded. Then an evil grin tugged at the corners of his mouth as he said, "Tell me something, have you and Weasley ever fucked?"

_Huh? Why would he ask that? _"That is none of your business." Hermione answered just a little too defensively, which caused Draco's grin to widen. _Damn!_ She thought, _I have to stay calm. Ok. Just. Stay. Calm._

"I'll take that as a yes." Said Draco. "So, having given him what he wants, he'd probably do anything for you, right? If you were to go up to him right now and tell him you want him to free The Dark Lord he would listen to you, wouldn't he?"

Hermione didn't like the sound of this, she didn't like it one bit.

"Well," Draco ordered, "answer me."

"I would never tell Ron to free Voldemort."

Uh oh, she must've said something wrong. Draco's smile vanished leaving no trace and his voice was a low menacing tone as he warned, "Never say that name in my presence, do you understand?"

Hermione nodded slowly, amazed at how quickly his mood could change.

"Good. Now tell me, what would you do if you found out that a Slytherin girl had taken Polyjuice Potion to transform into you so she could try and persuade Weasley to cooperate with my father to free The Dark Lord?"

Hermione's jaw dropped. _Oh my God! That is what's going on in The Forbidden Forest right now. But how did she get some of my hair for the potion? Will Ron think it's really me and listen to her? What will happen if Voldemort gets freed? He'll kill all the muggles and the muggle-borns and the wizards who don't agree to go to the dark side. No one will be safe anymore._

"You might wonna close your mouth before a fly gets in." Draco's comment pulled Hermione out of her train of hysterical thoughts.

She looked at Draco. His expression was unreadable. _What do I do?_ Hermione shook her head slowly while lowering her gaze. _First of all, I have to get out of here. _She turned around and reached for the door handle. She turned it and pulled. The door wouldn't open. She tried again, with as much strength as she possessed. _Damn! It won't budge._

Hermione pulled on the door handle again … and again … then again. _Argh! I have to get out! _She kicked the door. _That felt good. _She kicked it some more then started banging her hands against it too. She was getting out all her frustration and anger and totally forgot that Draco was standing behind her.

Hermione finally started getting tired and ceased her assault on the door. Panting, she began to devise ways in which she could escape. _Well I don't have my wand, so 'alohomora' is out of the question. Argh! Think. Think. Maybe I could do it the muggle way. I could find something long and skinny to pick the lock. That's it!_

Hermione turned around to go start looking but bumped right into Draco. As soon as she realized what happened, she backed away as quickly as she could until her back was pressed against the door. _You are so stupid_, Hermione chastised herself mentally as she closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the door.

How could she have gotten so caught up in her thoughts that she completely forgot that Draco was there. There's no way she would be able to escape.

Her eyes still closed, Hermione began banging her head repeatedly against the door, not really knowing where the impulse to do that had stemmed from.

She heard Draco huff exasperatedly and stopped, but kept her eyes shut.

"Are you quite finished now?" He asked in an annoyed voice.

Hermione opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. Oh yeah, annoyance was written all over his features.

"Why don't you come and sit down." He drawled, gesturing toward the bed with one hand. "You're most probably going to be here for a while."

_He's right_, Hermione thought, _who knows when I'll be able to leave. _A lump started to form in her throat and hot tears stung the back of her eyes. All she wanted to do right now was cry, but she tried not to succumb to that urge. Hermione sank to the floor leaning against the door with her knees bent. She folded her arms on top of her knees and rested her head on them.

"I told you to sit on the b—" Draco started to say, but then stopped abruptly.

That intrigued Hermione and she lifted her head to look at him. He was staring at her … legs?

Then it hit her. It hit her like a thousand bricks. She was wearing a skirt and her panties were somewhere in The Forbidden Forest. Scrambling quickly to her feet, Hermione felt her face steadily heat up and knew she must look like a tomato.

"Were you trying to entice me?" Draco inquired.

Hermione noticed that his eyes looked a bit darker than usual. "Fuck you!" She yelled as she felt those tears try to escape again.

"Maybe I'll fuck you." He started advancing towards her.

This really perturbed Hermione. She had already been raped once tonight and she had no desire for an encore. This time she would put up a fight, she wouldn't let him have it easily.

"Stay away from me." She tried to say firmly but her voice was shaky. And he was getting closer. "I said—" Hermione was about to repeat, but her words were cut off by a sob.

Draco was now too close. Since words were no good, Hermione decided to get physical. She raised her hand to slap him but he caught her wrist in a grip that practically stopped her circulation. Hermione tried to wrench her arm away but his grasp merely tightened.

Draco's eyes were spitting fire as he ground out, "You may have slapped me in our third year, but you will never do it again, do you hear me?"

Actually, the pain he was inflicting on her wrist was interfering with her hearing. Hermione had only vaguely heard what he said but she nodded anyway.

Draco released her wrist. She instinctively looked at it and rubbed it with her other hand. She was sure she was gonna get a bruise.

"Go sit on the bed." Draco ordered, and this time Hermione obliged.

She walked over to the bed and was about to sit down when something caught her attention. There was a stain on the sheets. It was quite a big stain but she couldn't tell what it was. It was a dark color, maybe coffee, but maybe not because it looked more reddish than brown. Since the sheets were green it was hard to tell.

Hermione looked to her left and saw the same stuff on the green carpet. She was standing at the foot of the bed but she decided to move to the left so she could see if there was an empty bottle or something where this stuff might have come from.

What Hermione found almost made her scream. She couldn't believe it; couldn't understand it.

A girl was lying there. Her long black hair, tousled; her cheeks, tear stained; every inch of her naked body covered in either a bruise or abrasion; dried blood covering her womanhood and thighs.

Hermione was looking at Cho Chang. She wandered if the reason why Draco was so keen to get her to sit on the bed was because he wanted her to see this. _But how could it be?_

Cho was helping Pansy pull Ginny into the forest not even two hours ago. Now she's here with wounds that look as if they happened a while ago and already started to heal. Then Hermione jumped about five feet into the air.

She had been startled by Draco putting a hand on her shoulder. Hermione looked at him while clutching her rapidly beating heart with both hands and trying to catch her breath. His expression was hard to perceive but at least he no longer looked like he wanted to rape her.

Draco gave Cho a quick glance then took out his wand, pointed it at the bed and muttered, "scourgify." The blood from the sheets vanished. "Have a seat." He uttered tonelessly.

Hermione didn't think twice before obeying him. She was literally shaking from head to toe as Draco sat beside her.

"You look pale." He said. "But you can calm down, that isn't going to happen to you."

Yeah right, like she was gonna believe him. _He's a monster. How could he do that to Cho, or anyone for that matter? And what is Cho doing here? She was just in the forest not too long ago. This is so baffling. _Hermione couldn't keep herself under control anymore. She broke down and started crying.

"How could you do such a thing?" She sobbed. "You're evil, you're a monster!"

Hermione was shaking worse than ever. She wrapped her arms around her trembling body in an effort to regain her composure, but to no avail.

"Please stop crying Hermione, I'm not going to hurt you." Draco's voice was soft.

_Say what? _She must be hearing things. She's hallucinating! …Or … maybe not.

Draco put his hand under Hermione's chin and gently made her look at him. "I mean it," He said, his voice still soft, "I'm not going to hurt you. And I'm not the one who hurt Cho. You have no need to cry, ok?" He wiped away her tears.

Hermione was so utterly and completely taken aback that she actually did stop crying. _What is he playing at? _This was the first time she had ever heard him speak in a soft voice. But looking into his eyes she could only see sincerity and something that looked like compassion. _Could it be?_

All she could do was look at Draco, confused as hell, as silent tears began to flow down her cheeks. At this, Draco pulled Hermione into his arms and held her tightly. He rocked her gently and not too long after she stopped crying.

"I need to tell you something." Draco said seriously, putting his hands on Hermione's shoulders to push her away from his body so he could look at her.

"What is it?" She asked.

Draco inhaled deeply then began explaining. "On the first night back at Hogwarts a sixth year Slytherin girl named Melissa spotted Harry and Cho chatting on a second floor corridor. She stayed close by and listened in on their conversation. When she heard Harry tell Cho that Ginny was his girlfriend and saw the look of disappointment on Cho's face she got a wicked idea. Melissa had brewed Polyjuice Potion over the summer and she saw this as her opportunity to use it. After Harry and Cho finished talking they went their separate ways. Melissa followed Cho, attacked her then took her to Crabbe and Goyle's dorm and asked them if they would keep her hidden. They of course loved that idea as they would be able to rape her when ever they felt horny. Melissa made Cho drink Veritaserum so she could find out all the information she needed and then, after taking some of Cho's hair, left to go drink the potion. During the Hogsmeade trip imposter Cho took Harry to the Hog's Head and gave him a Butterbeer that she had put a potion in to make him do what ever she wanted him to do." _So that's why Harry slapped Ginny and then didn't even remember anything the next day, he was under the influence of the potion._ "Also during the Hogsmeade trip I over heard a man speaking about a weapon that would destroy The Dark Lord. I told my father straight away and he kidnapped that man. Once The Dark Lord and all the Death Eaters found out everything they needed to know, they put the Imperius Curse on him and then used him to keep them updated on how—"

He was cut off by Hermione. "I already know all that." She said. "Your dad told Ron all about that man and about the new prophecy too. But what I want to know is why you're telling me."

"It's my fault they found out about the weapon." Draco sighed remorsefully. "I was evil back then. But I want to change. So I'm filling you in on the situation so that then we can go to the forest and make sure that Ron destroys The Dark Lord."

"You know how to destroy You-Know-Who?" Hermione asked.

"Yes." Draco replied.

"But why do we have to tell Ron how to do it? How do you know that he doesn't already know?"

"I guess my father didn't have a chance to explain that part, huh?" Draco said. "My father made Ron's father drink Veritaserum when he found out about the new prophecy so that he could ask him some questions. By doing so, my father found out that Ron had already seen the weapon but hadn't been told about the prophecy and didn't know that he was the only one who could destroy The Dark Lord forever."

"How did You-Know-Who get trapped in the weapon?" Hermione inquired.

"When the Death Eaters brought the weapon to him he tried to destroy it but it was no use. Nothing would even leave a scratch on it. Then one day The Dark Lord wanted to opened the door on top to see what would happen. As soon as he touched the weapon his hand got stuck to it and the door started to open by itself. The Dark Lord got pulled inside immediately. Nothing the Death Eaters tried would free him so they knew they had to make Ron do it. Only problem is that Ron has to be willing. My dad found out from Ron's dad how it has to be done. Ron has to either want The Dark Lord to be freed or destroyed with all his heart then he has to read what's engraved on the weapon and that will free or destroy The Dark Lord forever." Draco finished then sucked in a long breath. "Any other questions?"

"How will Ron read what's on the weapon? Not even I understand it." Hermione said.

"When the time comes he'll be able to." Draco replied.

"Oh." Said Hermione. "I just have two more questions. Who drank Polyjuice to look like me and how did she get my hair?"

"A Slytherin seventh year named Isabella. And the way they got your hair was by putting the Imperius Curse on Ginny and having her get it for them." Draco responded.

"Who's 'them'?" Hermione inquired

"Pansy and Melissa."

Hermione recalled Pansy and imposter Cho's conversation that day in the bathroom. Now she knew what they were talking about. But she couldn't recall Ginny acting strange or anything these past few days.

"When did they put the Imperius Curse on Ginny?" She asked Draco.

"A few days after the Hogsmeade trip." He answered. "My father found out what Melissa was doing and thought it was brilliant, so he told her and Pansy to get some of your hair just in case Ron might need some persuading from you—or who he thinks is you."

Hermione searched her brain then remembered how a few days after the Hogsmeade trip Harry had met her and Ron in the Care of Magical Creatures class and told them that Ginny wasn't feeling well but seemed annoyed that he wanted to stay with her instead of go to lunch. Then later that day she suddenly felt better and went to Quidditch practice. Hermione had tried to talk to her but she wouldn't answer. Then after practice was over Hermione and Ron went outside. And Hermione saw imposter Cho and Pansy holding a suspicious looking bag. _Which probably contained my hair_, she thought.

"Ok, well now I know everything I need to know." Said Hermione. "So what do we do now?"

Draco stood up. "We have to go to The Forbidden Forest." He said. He flicked his wand and conjured a bunch of wooden steaks. While putting them in a bag he said, "These are what we need to kill the vampires."

"What about Cho?" Hermione gestured towards her. "Is she going to be ok?"

Draco levitated her onto the bed. "As soon as this is over we'll take her to the hospital wing." He said. "Come on. We better hurry." He opened the door and they left.

They were careful not to let anyone see them as they made their way to the oak front doors. They exited the castle then headed toward the forest. Right as they reached the edge of the forest they heard a huge BOOM! and were thrown backwards with a great force. The whole forest was illuminated with a purple light.

Hermione and Draco landed a few feet away from the forest.

"Oh no!" Hermione sat up.

Draco looked at her and asked. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine." She replied. She looked at the forest. "What happened?"

"I don't know." He said.

A/N: Please review!


	7. Back in Time

Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing.

Chapter 7: Back in Time

Hermione and Draco landed a few feet away from the forest.

"Oh no!" Hermione sat up.

Draco looked at her and asked. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine." She replied. She looked at the forest. "What happened?"

"I don't know." He said.

They both stood up.

What do we do now?" Hermione asked Draco.

He started walking slowly toward the forest. "We have to go into the forest. But I don't know if it's safe."

Hermione got an idea. She grabbed Draco's arm to stop him from walking. He looked at her and she said, "Maybe we can go back in time. I bet my old Time-Turner is still in McGonagall's office."

Draco looked confused. "Your what?"

"My Time-Turner," Hermione said, "I used it in third year. Come on." She pulled Draco back to the castle.

They snuck to McGonagall's office. Lucky for them she wasn't in there.

Hermione searched all the drawers while Draco kept a look out. She finally found the Time-Turner in the last drawer she looked in.

"I should've looked in that drawer first." Hermione muttered as they left the office.

When they were outside, Hermione put the chain of the Time-Turner around her and Draco's necks. She turned it three times and they started going back in time.

They were now in the past. Hermione saw that the purple light illuminating the forest was not there anymore.

"So we're in the past now?" Draco asked uncertainly.

"Yup." Hermione replied.

"Ok. Well, let's go." Draco led the way into The Forbidden Forest.

As they approached the clearing, Hermione was able to see what was happening. Blaise was having his way with the past Hermione. _If I would've just gone a little further back in time, I might've been able to stop that from happening_, Hermione thought, _oh well, it's too late now._

Draco noticed what was happening in the clearing too. He told Hermione, "Look over there. Behind that tree." He pointed with his finger.

Hermione looked and saw a guy.

"That's Matt. He's the one who was wanking behind the bush." Draco said. "Watch this." He pulled out his wand and cast the Imperius Curse on him. Matt went into a trance-like state and came over to Draco.

"I want you to stun Blaise." Draco told him.

Matt went into the clearing, pointed his wand at Blaise and yelled, "Stupfy!"

Blaise collapsed on top of the past Hermione.

One of the Death Eaters said, "What happened?"

Another Death Eater asked Matt, in an angry voice, "Why did you do that?"

Then Lucius said, "Get the girls out of the clearing."

Hermione watched as her past self was being dragged out of the forest.

Lucius asked Matt, "What the hell were you thinking? Explain yourself."

Matt just stood there, still in his trance-like state.

"Answer me damn it! What is wrong with him?" Lucius looked at the Death Eater beside him.

"I guess all that masturbating is melting his brain." Said the Death Eater.

"Get him out of the clearing." Said Lucius.

_I wonder why Matt tries to get privacy when he wanks?_ Hermione thought, _everyone knows that he does it._ She looked at Draco, "Now what do we do?"

Draco took the wooden steaks out of the bag. He put a charm on them and they started zooming into the clearing. Each one stabbed a vampire in the heart.

Now the commotion in the clearing really went into over drive. Everyone was shouting and all the Death Eaters in the forest came into the clearing. There were about twenty of them.

Lucius was trying to protect Ron. He kept saying, "Make sure Weasley doesn't get hurt!"

Then he pointed at two Death Eaters and said, "You two search the area."

Hermione looked at Draco worriedly.

"Well, at least the vampires are dead." Draco said as an attempt to offer a bit of comfort.

As the Death Eaters who were searching the area drew nearer to them, Draco pointed his wand at each of them in turn and muttered, "Imperio."

He ordered them to stun all the Death Eaters in the forest. It took them about five minutes before all the Death Eaters, including Lucius, were lying stunned on the ground.

With all the Death Eaters on the ground, Hermione was now able to clearly see Ginny, Ron, Pansy and … herself? _But my past self is supposed to be in Draco's dorm right now_, Hermione thought.

Then she remembered that a girl had taken Polyjuice Potion to look like her.

Pansy looked around at all the Death Eaters on the ground. Then she turned around and started to run.

"She's not going anywhere." Draco said as he pointed his wand at her. "Stupfy!" Pansy fell to the ground, out cold.

Hermione saw Ron ask Ginny if she was ok. Then he hugged imposter Hermione and asked if she was ok.

"Draco," Hermione pointed at imposter Hermione, "Stun her."

Draco chortled. "Ok."

He and Hermione went into the clearing.

"Draco!" Imposter Hermione said in a shocked voice pulling away from Ron. "What are you doing here? Did you see what happened?" She started walking toward Draco but stopped dead in her tracks when he pointed his wand at her. "What are you doing Draco?" She asked nervously.

"The game is over Isabella." Draco said. "Stupfy!"

Imposter Hermione fell to the ground. Ron and Ginny looked at Hermione, then at imposter Hermione, then back at Hermione again. They looked very confused. They didn't know which one was the real Hermione.

"It's me you guys." Said Hermione.

Ron looked at her doubtfully, "Are you sure it's you?

"Yes." She said.

"But how can we be sure?" Ron narrowed his eyes.

"Ron, it's me!" Hermione said irritably.

Ron and Ginny exchanged knowing glances. "Oh yeah, it's Hermione all right." Said Ginny.

Ron looked at Hermione. "No one can infuriate you the way I can." He said affectionately.

Hermione hugged him. "You're so insufferable." She said into his chest.

"I know." He replied into her hair.

"So, who's that?" Ginny asked looking at imposter Hermione.

"She's a Slytherin girl who drank Polyjuice Potion to look like Hermione." Draco answered, which caused Ron and Ginny to give him quizzical looks.

"It's ok," Hermione told them. "He has left the dark side."

"Really?" Ginny asked Draco.

"Yeah." He said. Then he looked at Ron. "Hey man," He said awkwardly. "Sorry about everything…."

Ron shrugged. "It's forgotten." He held his hand out and Draco shook it.

Then Hermione thought about something. _Where are Harry and imposter Cho?_

"Where's Harry?" She asked.

Everyone started looking around. He was nowhere to be seen in the clearing so they went into the trees.

"Look, there!" Ginny said.

Hermione looked and saw imposter Cho pulling a still unconscious Harry along the forest floor.

"Where the hell does she think she's taking him?" Draco asked. Hermione noticed that his voice held a trace of amusement.

Draco raised his wand and shouted, "Impedimenta!"

Imposter Cho shrieked and fell on her knees. She looked up and saw that Draco was the only one holding a wand. "Trader!" She hissed. She stood up and started running.

She only made it four steps before Draco's stunning spell hit her.

Draco looked at Ron and Ginny. "She was also a Polyjuice drinker." He informed them. Then he pointed his want at Harry and muttered, "Ennervate."

Harry immediately sucked in a deep breath then slowly opened his eyes.

At once Ginny was by his side. She held his hand and asked, "Are you ok?"

"I think so." Harry responded. "Where are we?"

"We're still in the forest." Ginny told him.

"Oh." He closed his eyes. Then he abruptly opened them and tried to sit up. "Where's Hermione? Where's Ron? Are they all right? Are you all right? What happened?"

"I should put a silencing charm on him, shouldn't I?" Said Draco.

"We're all fine. Don't worry." Ginny reassured. "Draco helped us."

"Really?" Harry sounded flabbergasted.

"We have to destroy the weapon now." Hermione said.

"Ok." Said Ron. He went to Harry and pulled him to his feet.

They all went back into the clearing.

Ron walked over to the weapon. He stood there for a while then turned his head and looked at Hermione. "In case we don't make it, "He said, "I want you to know that I will always love you."

"Oh Ron!" A teary Hermione ran to him.

Ron spread his arms and caught her. He embraced her tightly.

"Don't you go saying your goodbyes Ronald Weasley. We're gonna make it." Hermione told him.

Ron gave her a quick kiss then she went back to stand with Harry, Ginny and Draco.

Ron kept looking at the weapon, not really knowing what to do.

"Maybe you should touch it." Suggested Draco.

Ron raised his hand toward the weapon. As soon as his hand made contact with the weapon it began to glow. Startled, Ron tried to pull his hand away but it was stuck.

He looked at the others and asked panicky, "What do I do? My hand is stuck."

"Look at the engraved symbols." Said Draco.

Ron turned back to the weapon. As soon as his gaze locked on the symbols his eyes glazed over and he stopped trying to pull his hand away. His voice was very different as he began to chant in a strange language.

After a minute of chanting Ron suddenly ceased and then removed his hand from the weapon. He backed away and went to stand with Hermione, Ginny, Harry and Draco.

"Did it work?" Hermione asked Draco.

"I think so." He replied.

The weapon started to glow brighter … and brighter … and brighter. It was so bright that it was almost impossible to look directly at it. It began to quiver. A loud rumbling sound started to emanate from within. And then…

"Get down!" Yelled Harry.

They had just barely jumped flat on their stomachs when a thunderous BOOM! sounded and a massive force zoomed over them, leaving their hair and clothes fluttering in it's wake.

The whole forest was now illuminated with a blinding purple light.

"Is everyone all right?" Ron asked. Everyone said yes.

"Man, I wish we had sunglasses." Said Harry.

"What?" Ron asked.

"It's a muggle thing." Hermione told him.

They all stood up and made their way out of the forest.

Just as they were about to exit the forest Hermione held up a hand and said, "Wait."

They watched as the other Draco and Hermione with the Time-Turner disappeared.

"Ok, let's go." Said Hermione.

They continued on their way. About half way to the castle the oak front doors opened and out trudged none other than Dumbledore. He was closely followed by McGonagall, Snape and other members of the Order.

The trio, Ginny and Draco told them everything that happened and then went to the hospital wing by order of the Headmaster. Draco made a quick stop in his dorm and brought Cho to the hospital wing too.

A few weeks went by. Everyone had recovered and everything was back to normal. But there was a slight difference. The rivalry and hatred between Slytherin and Gryffindor was gone. Melissa and Isabella were expelled. All the Death Eaters were in Azkaban which was once again being guarded by the Dementors.

The students of Hogwarts had a Hogsmeade trip to look forward to before the winter break. Hermione was especially anxious about going because she wanted to speak to the Seer who gave her the power to have visions.

Hermione awoke early on the cold, snowy day of the Hogsmeade trip. She went to breakfast after meeting Ron, Harry and Ginny in the common room.

During the Hogsmeade trip Hermione and Ron went to the Seer's place. She looked as if she had been waiting for them.

"Welcome." She said as Ron and Hermione entered.

Hermione walked in timidly. "Hello." She said timorously.

"Hello." Replied the Seer. She shook Ron's hand then held out her hand for Hermione to shake it.

As soon as Hermione touched her hand she felt a tingly sensation run down her arm and out of her palm. _Was that the feel of her taking the vision powers back?_ Hermione wondered. She looked at the Seer.

"Yes my dear," Said the Seer. "I have taken the powers back. You no longer need them. You have fulfilled your destiny as well as helped you friend here…" She motioned to Ron. "…to fulfill his too. Have a good Christmas. Perhaps we'll meet again someday."

"Thanks." Said Hermione. "Bye." Her and Ron left.

They went and sat on a bench.

"So," Hermione said, "Are you still going to The Burrow for the winter break?"

"Yup." Ron replied. "Are you still going with your parents to the cabin?"

"Well yeah, I guess…" Hermione trailed off.

"Unless you'd like to come to The Burrow with me?" Ron suggested.

Hermione looked at him and smiled. "I'd love to."

Ron smiled back. "Great! I can't wait. So where would you like to go now?"

"I don't know, maybe Honeydukes." Hermione said.

"Ok." Ron agreed. He stood up and held his hand out for Hermione to take.

She put her hand in his and he pulled her to her feet.

Hand-in-hand they made their way to Honeydukes.

THE END

A/N: This fic is now completed. Please review! Tell me what you think. Did you think it was a good or bad ending?


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